In a game that saw season debut of senior guard Mike Liabo, the UTM Skyhawks fell short of victory against Lipscomb Bisons.
Liabo, who had missed the Skyhawks’ first seven games due to being suspended for violations of unknown team rules, came off the bench to lead the team with 27 points scored on Monday night.
The game was the second half of a UTM basketball doubleheader; earlier in the evening, the women’s basketball team had defeated Evansville 93-77. However, the men could not finish what the women had started. The Skyhawks were just 26-for-62 (41.9%) from the floor, compared with Lipscomb’s 29-of-53 (54.7%) shots made.
Liabo was not the only Skyhawk to appear multiple times on the scoring report: Terence Smith recorded 18 points on the night. Myles Taylor racked up 15, including five of his seven foul shots attempted; this brings him to 32-for-39 (82.1%) on the year.
For the Bisons, twin brothers Martin and Malcolm Smith led the way with 27 and 23 points in the game. Malcolm scored most of his points from the free throw line; he was fouled more than any other player, and scored 13 of his 15 free throws.
UTM started quickly, amassing a seven-point lead at the seven-minute mark. Unfortunately for the Skyhawks, they were not able to keep this lead and Lipscomb was able to tie the game with 9:45 left in the first half. Taylor drew a foul foul with 8:51 left in the half, the Bisons hit both free throw shots to take a two-point lead.
The Bisons never looked back, extending their lead to eleven by the end of the game. UTM came within one point of tying the game by halftime and several times during the second half, but each time they were unable to nail the shot they needed to pull ahead.
UTM has one more game remaining in this home-stand: Wednesday’s tilt against Bethel at 7 p.m.. Afterward, they travel to Las Vegas to take on Mountain West powerhouse UNLV, who have made the NCAA Tournament in five of the past six years. Lipscomb, meanwhile, will visit Georgetown on November 30, before returning home for a game against Tennessee Tech on December 5.
