Late jumper gives men’s basketball dramatic victory over TTU

The Lipscomb men’s basketball team beat the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles 64-63 Wednesday night in a matchup which included 10 lead changes.

After two consecutive road losses, the Bisons rebounded in a revenge game from last year’s matchup against its foe.

Graduate center Ahsan Asadullah started the game strong on the offensive end with five rebounds and four points within the first six minutes of the game. The Bisons would take a five-point lead within that span, the largest of the half.

After a slight comeback by the Golden Eagles to cut the lead to one, A.J. McGinnis, a Cincinnati transfer, finished a Bisons possession with a three-pointer in front of a chirping Tennessee Tech bench.

Tennessee Tech took its first lead of the game with a tough fadeaway shot by forward Jaylen Sebree to take a 15-14 lead. The Golden Eagles’ advantage was quickly taken away as Asadullah continued to dominate the paint with a layup to regain the lead.

With the game later tied at 22 points apiece, the Bisons maintained possession for over a minute, nabbing three rebounds on the same possession. An eventual hook shot by Asadullah gave the Bisons the lead.

Despite Asadullah’s efficient first half, the Golden Eagles held a 26-25 lead at the break. Sebree took advantage of a Bisons’ turnover for a quick 3-point jumper to end the period.

The second half began with momentous buckets on both sides as both teams scored 13 points by the first media timeout. The Golden Eagles made three shots from behind the arc, including one 3-pointer from Sebree, the leading scorer in the game.

On the other end, Asadullah finished on three layups within the first four minutes to tie the game at 35 points each. Asadullah contributed with a double-double for the game with 21 points on a 56% shooting performance and 15 rebounds.

Sophomore guard Will Pruitt, hailing from Mt. Juliet, Tennessee, gave the Bisons a 52-51 lead after a Golden Eagles’ three-point jumper.

The back-and-forth game continued in the waning minutes as Sebree converted on his fourth 3-pointer and also a mid-range jumper to take the TTU lead at 60-57 with 2:19 left in the game.

Sophomore guard Derrin Boyd was critical late as he converted on three free-throws, but with a long jumper by Tennessee Tech guard Jayvis Harvey, the Golden Eagles held a 63-62 lead with 46 seconds left.

In the following possession, Pruitt turned the ball over with 19 seconds left. He redeemed himself after stealing an errant pass and made a jumper in the paint to give the Bisons the 64-63 lead with seven seconds remaining. Pruitt’s jumper would be the last shot to rattle in as Tennessee Tech missed two shots in the final seconds.

Lipscomb improves to 7-4 on the season and will play two straight road games before beginning conference play. The Bisons’ first matchup will be at Michigan at 3 p.m. on Saturday. The Bisons’ matchup at Louisville at 5 p.m. on Tuesday will be streamed live on The Bison, Lipscomb’s student-run radio station.