Heartbreak for Lipscomb as Belmont storms back to win Battle of the Boulevard

In a thrilling 151st Battle of the Boulevard Tuesday night, Lipscomb narrowly fell to Belmont 80-79 in the final seconds

Despite a standout performance from Jacob Ognacevic, who scored 28 points, and a late-game lead, the Bisons couldn’t fend off Belmont’s dramatic 19-3 run that sealed the Bruins’ comeback in front of an electric crowd at Allen Arena.

Head Coach Lennie Acuff expressed disappointment over missed opportunities.

“We missed a couple of really good shots that got really good looks,” Acuff said. “They just didn’t go in. But they made threes.”

He also mentioned the pressure Belmont’s Carter Witt brought in the final minutes.

“Witt really started getting downhill and putting pressure on our defense. I think he had two old-fashioned three-point plays at the end,” Acuff continued.

Takeaways:

• Belmont. Never. Quit. 
  • Belmont was neck-and-neck with Lipscomb for most of the game and even held a narrow lead for most of the first half and the early stages of the second half. It was around the halfway point of the second half where everything started to go wrong. Lipscomb’s 12-0 run gave the Bisons confidence in the final stretch. But it was Belmont’s confidence in the end that was the difference. The Bruins trailed 63-75 with 3:35 left in the game when they launched an improbable comeback to win the game. Belmont went on an 8-0 run in the final 1:11 and made eight of their last nine field goals. It was Isaiah Walker’s and-1 with 3 seconds to go that sealed the game for the Bruins.
• Pruitt and Ognacevic combined for 48 points.
  • It was the star-studded veteran duo that led the Bisons ever so close to the finish line, but their 48 combined points came up just short of the victory. Jacob Ognacevic scored 28 points on the night, 18 in the 2nd half, along with 10-17 shooting, and 4-8 from beyond the arc. Ognacevic also led the team in rebounds with seven. It was Will Pruitt who was all over the court tonight, scoring 20 points and five assists, as well as etching three steals into tonight’s stat sheet.

Coach Acuff’s message to his team after the game was simple:

“You don’t waste failure,” Acuff said. “And that’s a hard one. That’s a really, really hard one. And it should hurt. You should hurt. You’re up 12, 3:35 to go. You gotta get that one to the finish line. And we have to learn from it.”

The stretch of tough matchups continues for the Bisons at Western Kentucky this Sunday, then they make a short trip from there to Rupp Arena to take on the Wildcats of Kentucky on Tuesday.