The Lipscomb Bisons flattened the UCA men’s basketball team 78-60 in the Bears’ final regular season game Feb. 26.
The Bisons began the first half of the away game with a 3-point shot from senior guard Joe Anderson, his first of three successful 3-pointers. Anderson attempted nine shots, the most made by any Lipscomb player.
Lipscomb (23-9, ASUN 14-4) scored five more points — a jump shot from senior forward Jacob Ognacevic and a 3-pointer by senior guard Will Pruitt — before UCA (9-24, ASUN 5-15) bagged its first shot of the night with a jumper from senior guard/forward Elias Cato, 8-2.
Less than 20 seconds later, Anderson scored his second 3-pointer of the evening, following it up with a fastbreak layup for another 2 points.
A quarter through the first half, Ognacevic pulled off a fastbreak dunk for the Bisons. Elias quickly ran the ball back, scoring another jump shot, leaving the court open for UCA sophomore guard Brayden Fagbemi to bag a 3-point shot.
“I thought in the first half Elias played really good,” coach John Shulman said to ucasports.com. “I thought he played like a senior that was heading toward the end of his career. And I appreciated his effort. I appreciated all our guys’ effort tonight.”
Ognacevic responded 20 seconds later with his only 3-pointer of the night, 18-7.
With almost 13 minutes left, Anderson scored Lipscomb his last 3-pointer of the game.
The Bears and Bisons traded off free throws until Cato scored a layup, finally pushing UCA into the double-digits threshold. Lipscomb quickly returned with a jump shot from Ognacevic and a 3-pointer by senior guard Gyasi Powell, 28-11.
UCA controlled the court for the next six minutes, cracking 20 points with jump shots from freshman guard Owen Dehrmann and freshman forward Nehemiah Turner, a layup by freshman guard/forward Cole McCormick and a 3-point shot from redshirt freshman guard Ben Fox.
With five minutes remaining, Powell scored 2 points with a layup while Pruitt made a 3-point fastbreak 40 seconds later.
UCA and Lipscomb scored 2 points each until the Bears finished the first half with two jump shots, one from Fagbemi and one from Fox, 35-26.
Bison junior center Charlie Williams scored the first points of the second half over a minute in. Nehemiah took hold of the ball with a jump shot and a 3-pointer in under 30 seconds. Soon after Williams completed a similar play for Lipscomb, also scoring a jump shot and a 3-pointer.
The Bears closed the gap between the teams to 7 points after a jump shot from Fagbemi and a tip-in and a free throw from Turner, 43-37.
The Bisons and Bears went on to score several free throws and 2-point shots until McCormick bagged UCA another 3-point shot, putting Central Arkansas only 3 points behind Lipscomb.
UCA continued to follow behind by 3-points until the Bisons went on a scoring frenzy with a layup and free throw from Pruitt and 3-pointers by Williams and junior guard Miles White, 57-47.
Shulman said to ucasports.com, “I thought we did a really great job-fighting. It was a three-point game in the second half. And I thought they [Lipscomb] were getting a little tight.”
With under 10 minutes left in the game, UCA was only able to score free throws with the occasional two-point shot, as Lipscomb scored multiple 3 and 2-pointers.
UCA freshman guard Ethan Thomas nabbed the final point of the game with a free throw at the 16-second mark.
The Bisons overpowered the Bears for a 78-60 victory, securing Lipscomb its 22nd win of the season.
The Bears next game would be against the Stetson Hatters (8-24, ASUN 4-14) in the first round of the ASUN championship March 2. The Bears would defeat the Hatters in a 77-72 upset, moving UCA into the quarterfinals, facing off against Lipscomb once again.
While UCA managed to stay close to the Bisons in the first few minutes of the game, they eventually slipped up, losing the game 84-66.