Lipscomb scares No. 3 Duke early, ultimately falls 97-73

The Lipscomb Bisons were defeated by the No. 3 Duke Blue Devils 97-73 on Tuesday, Dec. 16. 

The Bisons felt the pressure from the Cameron Crazies early on, turning the ball over four times and falling into a 10-0 hole. 

A steal and score by freshman guard Or Ashkenazi opened the scoring for Lipscomb, and proved to be the spark that ignited Lipscomb’s fire. 

The Bisons rallied back to tie the game at 10 and took its first lead of the game with 13:51 remaining in the first half, courtesy of a layup by graduate student forward Grant Asman. 

The momentum continued to swing in Lipscomb’s favor as buckets by redshirt junior guard Mateo Esmeraldo, senior center Charlie Williams and senior guard-forward Kellan Boylan had the visiting Bisons leading the No. 3 ranked Blue Devils 26-16 with 10:39 left in the first half. 

The biggest key to Lipscomb’s early success was due to their efficient defensive pressure, forcing 16 first half turnovers, the most Duke has had in a single game the entire season.

The Blue Devils also faced their largest deficit of the season at 10 points, a deficit that wasn’t even reached in Duke’s four victories against top 25 teams to this point in the season. 

It was a back-and-forth first half that ended with the Blue Devils in front 48-45 by the end of it. 

The second half had its ups and downs for Lipscomb, a positive being the Bisons retaking the lead at 49-48 with 18:04 to go in the game. 

Lipscomb stayed within single digits until the final 10:52. From there, Duke’s speed and athleticism proved to be too much for Lipscomb to handle. 

After keeping up with the third-best team in the nation for 30 minutes of game time, Lipscomb was conquered by No. 3 Duke 97-73. 

Lipscomb proved to be a squad that will not allow any team to walk all over it, not even a team as talented as the Duke Blue Devils.

Asman led the way with 18 for the Bisons and a season-high three steals that also tied a career high, while Esmeraldo posted 14 points and eight assists. 

Lipscomb will return home to battle Blue Mountain Christian on Saturday, Dec. 20, at 1pm.

Featured image courtesy of Lipscomb Athletics.