Eastern Kentucky University’s men’s basketball team fell to a 75-62 defeat against Lipscomb University on Thursday, in a game where they struggled to hit 3-pointers. The Colonels made just two 3-pointers in the first 37 minutes of the game, while the Bisons (12-8, 4-3 ASUN) hit 10 three-pointers, out-scoring the Colonels by 18 from behind the arc. The Colonels finished 4-for-28 from deep for just 14 percent, and shot 36 percent from the field for the game.
Leading the Colonels’ effort was Leland Walker, who scored 17 points, Devontae Blanton, who added 14 points and seven rebounds, and Michael Moreno, who finished with eight points, 12 rebounds and three steals.
The game started well for the Colonels, who held Lipscomb scoreless for the first four minutes of the game and went in front by seven, 13-6, on a 3-pointer from the left wing by Cooper Robb. However, Lipscomb took control of the game as it progressed, with Derrin Boyd giving the Bisons their first lead of the game, 23-21, with a 3-pointer at the 6:40 mark. Blanton tied it, 27-27, on a lay-up with 2:56 to go before the break. Lipscomb hit two 3-pointers and out-scored EKU 8-2 to close the half and take a 35-29 edge into the locker room at the break.
The Bisons scored the first five points of the second half to go up 11, 40-29. A 3-pointer by Boyd with 12:28 to go made it a 12-point game, 50-38. The Colonels cut that deficit in half, 53-47, on a pair of jumpers from Walker, but AJ McGinnis answered for Lipscomb with a 3-pointer and Jacob Ognacevic added a dunk to push it back to 11, 58-47. The Colonels never got closer than nine the rest of the way.
Ognacevic contributed 19 points for Lipscomb, and Boyd had 18 points. The Colonels will close out its two-game road trip to Tennessee with a contest at Austin Peay on Saturday, with the game scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. ET.