Career night by Hampton leads men's hoops to A-Sun semifinals at home
Lipscomb Athletics |
Behind a career-high 35 points from junior J.C. Hampton, the No. 6 Lipscomb men’s basketball team claimed a 92-89 overtime thriller over homestanding No.3 Jacksonville Tuesday night in the Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament Quarterfinals at Swisher Gymnasium in Jacksonville, Florida.
The Bisons (12-20) advance to take on No. 7 seed Stetson on Thursday night at Allen Arena in Nashville, Tennessee, at 6 p.m. CST.
“I’m tremendously proud of our team,” said Lipscomb head coach Casey Alexander. “Tonight had to be a fun game to watch but it was a tough game to coach at times. A lot of guys on both sides made important plays and significant plays but I’m glad our guys were standing at the end of the night.
Lipscomb got 15 points from freshman forward Eli Pepper including five in the overtime stanza. Also in double figures were junior guard Cam Miller and freshman guard Garrison Mathews, who each scored 10.
Hampton hit 13-of-22 from the floor en route to his 35 points and drained 7-of-8 from the charity stripe becoming the first Bison to hit 30 points this season.
“Everybody in our locker room believes in J.C. and knows what he’s capable of,” said Alexander. “It says a lot about his character for him to perform like he did tonight in such a big moment.
Jacksonville (16-16) was led by 31 points from Darien Fernandez, the most from a Dolphin in postseason play.
“I’m glad we get a chance to redeem ourselves after our last outing at home even though we have a different opponent,” said Alexander. “Stetson in their last two games has done significant things in coming from behind at FGCU and then cleaning house tonight at NJIT.
“It doesn’t matter where we are playing, we have to approach the game as if it’s going to be a 40-minute battle and expect nothing less than that.”
Herd notes:
- Hampton’s 35 points were the most for a Bison since teammate Josh Williams scored 34 at ETSU on January 9, 2014. They are third most for a Lipscomb player in the NCAA Division I era tying Eddie Ard and Josh Slater.
- The contest was the first-ever postseason meeting between the two schools.
- The game marked the third-straight time that Lipscomb has gone to overtime in the quarterfinals of the Atlantic Sun Tournament.
- Thursday night’s contest will be the first home playoff game for Lipscomb since the A-Sun changed to the school-host format in 2013-14.
- Led by a game-high nine from Pepper, the Bisons held a slim 38-37 advantage on the boards.
- Lipscomb held a 51.6 to 42.2 percent advantage in shooting.
- After hitting six, first-half threes, the Bisons hit just one in the second half.
Up next: The Bisons return home on Thursday night to host No. 7 seed Stetson at 6 p.m. at Allen Arena. Visit http://www.LipscombTickets.com or call 615-966-HERD (4373) to get your tickets as Lipscomb takes on the Hatters. The contest will air live on ESPN3.