As expected, FGCU and Lipscomb will meet in the ASUN Championship on Sunday. Will the Eagles or Bisons prevail?
It had to be this way. If the Lipscomb Bisons were going to make it to the Big Dance for the first time, they were going to have to go through ASUN powerhouse FGCU.
The two teams are set for their third clash of the season on Sunday, this time with the ASUN Tournament Championship and the league’s auto bid on the line.
The game will be taking place on ESPN at 3 eastern, 2 central, and it is the first conference championship game of the season, so mid-major fiends and college basketball fans in general will be tuning in.
Viewers should expect fireworks as these are the top two teams in the ASUN by far. The Eagles and Bisons split their two regular season meetings. FGCU won 88-83 in Nashville, while Lipscomb returned the favor with a 90-87 win in Fort Myers.
Both teams took care of business in the first two rounds of the ASUN Tournament mostly with ease.
FGCU defeated eighth-seeded USC Upstate 96-76 and fifth-seeded North Florida 95-72, while Lipscomb dispatched of seventh-seeded Stetson 89-73 and third-seeded Jacksonville 77-62.
The game will feature four of the five First-Team All-Conference members in the league.
ASUN Player of the Year Brandon Goodwin has starred for the Eagles all season. His all-around game puts him at second in the ASUN in scoring (18.1), third in assists (4.8), and 12th in rebounding (5.6).
Teammate Zach Johnson is 11th in the ASUN in scoring with 15.3 points per game, providing a solid second option for the Eagles.
Meanwhile, Lipscomb has two of the ASUN’s top six scorers. Garrison Mathews leads the league with 21.7 points per game, good enough for 15th in the nation, while Rob Marberry ranks sixth in the ASUN at 16.1 points per game.
FGCU has been a consistent NCAA Tournament team since its breakthrough in 2013. After the famous Dunk City run to the Sweet Sixteen, the first-ever for the a 15-seed, the Eagles have made each of the last two NCAA Tournaments.
Lipscomb, on the other hand, has never made the NCAA Tournament. The closest they ever came was in 2006, the Bisons first year of Division I postseason eligibility, when they lost to their arch rival Belmont in overtime in the ASUN Championship. To top things off, current Lipscomb head coach Casey Alexander was an assistant with Belmont at the time.
Next: Who did our authors pick to win the ASUN Championship game?
Whichever team wins should give some unwitting two-seed a run for their money on the big stage. Both teams can score in bunches and are veteran-heavy, a recipe for March Madness upset success.