ASUN semifinal comes to Allen Arena TONIGHT for men's basketball

Lipscomb Athletics | 

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The No. 2 Lipscomb men’s basketball team continues action in the 2017 ASUN Conference Championship TONIGHT (March 2) hosting No. 3 North Florida at 7 p.m. at Allen Arena with the winner advancing to the ASUN Championship game on Sunday at 2 p.m. on ESPN.

The Bisons and Ospreys will meet for just the second time in postseason play tonight in a rematch of the 2015 ASUN Semifinals.

Tickets for the game are available at http://www.LipscombTickets.com or by calling 615-966-HERD (4373). The game will air on ESPN3 with Jonathan and Justin Seamon calling the action from Don Meyer Court. 

Herd notes:

  • The Bisons enter Thursday night’s game 7-12 all-time in the ASUN Tournament and 1-3 in the semifinals of the championship.
  • Lipscomb claimed a pair of spots on the 2017 ASUN All-Conference teams on Sunday. Garrison Mathews was one of just two unanimous first-team selections joining ASUN Player of the Year Dallas Moore. Rob Marberry was honored as a second-team selection for his first year with the team. It marks the first time since the 2010-11 season that the Bisons had two selections on the team.
  • The Purple and Gold also claimed a pair of ASUN All-Academic selections as Cam Miller repeated in the category and was joined by Eli Pepper, with his first appearance on the team.
  • Junior guard Nathan Moran picked up ASUN Player of the Week honors last Friday for his 24-point effort at Kennesaw State on Thursday night where he hit 8-of-12 beyond the arc to go alongside six assists and three rebounds.
  • The Bisons 12-3 finish in league play is the best mark percentage wise in school history.
  • After setting the school record for 3-pointers made in 2015-16 (331), the Bisons aerial attack is in full swing again this season. Lipscomb ranks 4th in the NCAA with 331 treys made so far tying last season’s record. Mathews (84), Moran (87) and Josh Williams (74) combine to give the Bisons the only team in the nation with three shooters with 70 made or more.
  • The offense has had a record-setting season already for the Bisons. The team has already set a new marks for points in a season (2,719), assists (578), blocks (99) field goals made (907), and free throws made (574).  The team is also in striking distance of setting marks for scoring average, and field goal percentage.
  • Lipscomb is ranked fifth in the nation in free-throws made (574) and second in attempts (795). The Bisons also rank among the best in the nation in 3-point field goals attempted (4th, 899), total assists (2nd, 578) and 3-point field goals per game (6th, 10.3 pg).
  • Mathews inked his name in the record books at Jacksonville on Jan. 19 with a 39-point effort that erased Jeff Dancy’s mark of 38 against Tennessee State that had stood since 2002. He got to the total by hitting an all-time record 18 free throws in 21 attempts (tying the NCAA era mark.).
  • Mathews heads into Monday’s game with 623 points on the season, second most by any Lipscomb player in the NCAA era. Mathews trails Adnan Hodzic, who scored 682 in 2009-10.  He also sits just with 155 made free throws, just five back of Josh Slater’s 160 mark for the single-season NCAA era record.
  • Moran and Mathews both are closing in on the 1,000 point mark for their career. Moran sits with 973 points in his three seasons, while Mathews has notched 984 in just two seasons.
  • The January 5th game against Fisk was full of record breaking for the Bisons as the team set an all-time school mark with 22 treys and the NCAA era marks for the most points scored (126) and most rebounds (71). Individually, Eli Pepper claimed the NCAA era mark for most rebounds with 25, Kenny Cooper delivered an NCAA era best 13 assists and Nathan Moran drained nine of the 22 triples to tie Jordan Burgasson for the most threes in the NCAA era.   The game also saw the Bisons notch four double-doubles and place seven players in double figures.
  • Moran collected ASUN Player of the Week honors for his play in the Bisons 81-76 win at Missouri on Dec. 29. Moran posted a then season-high, 22-point night against the Tigers as Lipscomb collected its first win over an SEC team since downing Vanderbilt in 1951. The Franklin, Tennessee native hit 5-of-10 beyond the arc, added five rebounds, three assists and three steals in the victory.
  • Senior Josh Williams and Mathews both picked up ASUN Player of the Week honors in the month of December. Williams was honored on Dec. 20 after averaging 20.5 ppg including a game-winning trey at Tennessee Tech with 0.2 seconds remaining on the clock.  Mathews earned league honors on Dec. 13 after averaging 30.5 points per game and six rebounds per outing.  The Franklin, Tennessee native scored a career high 36 points against Morehead State, just two points shy of the Lipscomb NCAA era record.  He hit 8-of-10 from beyond the arc to come up just one triple shy of tying that school mark as well. He opened the week with a 25-point effort against rival Belmont.
  • Mathews and Williams are the first back-to-back winners for the Bisons since Josh Slater and Adnan Hodzic accomplished the feat in 2009-10.
  • The wins by Moran, Williams and Mathews ties the most players to win in a season that was set in 2006-07 when Eddie Ard, Brian Fisk and Trey Williams earned league laurels in 2006-07.