Bisons MBB season ends in ASUN Championship tournament loss to FGCU
The Lipscomb men’s basketball team’s season came to abrupt halt Friday afternoon, as a dominant interior performance by the Florida Gulf Coast Eagles led to a 77-53 defeat in the ASUN Championship quarterfinals.
Playing at the neutral-site VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena, the Bisons struggled to find their rhythm against an Eagles squad that controlled the glass and the paint from start to finish.
Lipscomb redshirt junior guard Mateo Esmeraldo opened the scoring with a layup, and the Bisons remained within striking distance early, trailing 11-8 at the first media timeout. But the offense stalled shortly after. FGCU went on a sustained run to push the lead to 32-14 with 9:08 left in the first half as the Bisons struggled to find answers on either end.
While Lipscomb trimmed the deficit to 35-27 by halftime, it couldn’t sustain the momentum in the second half. The Eagles eventually built a lead as large as 24 points, fueled by a 41-15 rebounding advantage and 46 points in the paint.
Redshirt junior guard Ross Candelino provided the primary offensive spark for the Bisons, finishing with a team-high 17 points. Lipscomb shot 38% from the field and struggled from deep, going 8-for-29 from 3-point range.
Junior guard Rammer Barno led Florida Gulf Coast with 18 points on a day when the Eagles shot 50.8% as a team.
The loss ends the season for the Bisons. Florida Gulf Coast advances to the ASUN Championship semifinals.
Featured Image courtesy of FGCU athletics.
