Bisons to face Murray State, Georgia, Vandy on hardwood this season
Lipscomb Athletics |
Featuring marquee road matchups at Georgetown, Georgia, Murray State and Vanderbilt along with a home-and-home series with rival Belmont, the 2013-14 Lipscomb men’s basketball schedule is set to usher in the Casey Alexander era.
After a Halloween night exhibition against long-time foe Freed Hardeman, the Bisons open the season on Nov. 8 hosting the “Battle of the Boulevard” at Allen Arena as the Bruins make the trek down the street. Home action continues on Nov. 11 as NCAA Division II Oakland City makes the trip to the “Music City” before the Bisons lift the lid on the road slate with a Nov. 15 contest at Vanderbilt marking the first contest between the two schools since 2009.
“I think we’ve got good balance and a competitive schedule,” said new head coach Casey Alexander. “I think we’ve got a lot of challenges and have our work cut out for us for sure but it’s never going to be any different than that. But we’re excited about the teams on the schedule.”
Action in Nashville continues for Lipscomb on Nov. 18 with a rare meeting between the Bisons and Tennessee State as the two squads clash for the first time since the 2002 season at the Gentry Center. The Purple and Gold wrap up the “Music City” swing on Nov. 20 with a return trip to take on Belmont at the Curb Event Center.
The Bisons continue action in the “Volunteer State” on Nov. 25 at UT-Martin before finally traveling outside state lines on Nov. 30 for a Thanksgiving weekend matchup in the Washington D.C. against Georgetown in a first-ever meeting between the two schools.
“That will be an exciting time for our guys to go to the nation’s capital and play a premier program,” said Alexander. “It will be a dream come true for J.J. Butler to go back home and play in front of his family. There are a lot of really exciting parts to that game to look forward to. Hopefully some Bison fans will be able to travel with us.”
Lipscomb returns home on Dec. 4 to take on Tennessee Tech at Allen Arena to battle the Golden Eagles in a special 8:15 p.m. tilt. The Bisons are set to spend the rest of 2013 on the road from that point however, with trips to Murray State (Dec. 7) and Georgia (Dec. 14) to round out the first half of the schedule.
The Purple and Gold will close out the 2013 calendar year and welcome 2014 in the “Sunshine State” for the third straight season with a Dec. 30 tilt at Stetson followed by a New Year’s Day affair at reigning A-Sun Tournament champion Florida Gulf Coast.
Lipscomb returns home on Jan. 4 to host North Florida before welcoming Jacksonville in the only Monday night conference game on the slate. Trips to ETSU (Jan. 9) and USC Upstate (Jan. 11) follow before LU takes on Kennesaw State at home on Jan. 16 and Mercer on Jan. 18.
A three-game road swing follows with a Jan. 24 contest at Northern Kentucky before a second trip to Florida to take on Jacksonville on Jan. 30 and North Florida on Feb. 1.
Home contests against USC Upstate (Feb. 6) and ETSU (Feb. 8) continue play in February. Lipscomb then travels to Mercer on Feb. 13 and Kennesaw State on Feb. 15 before returning home to finish the regular season hosting Northern Kentucky (Feb. 21), FGCU (Feb. 27) and Stetson (Mar. 1).
Season tickets are on sale now. Visit http://www.beherdlu.com or call 615-966-HERD (4373) to get the best seats at Allen Arena. For ticket questions email: tickets [at] lipscomb.edu.