Tuesday, October 24, 2006

Ten Days of A-Sun Basketball looks at last year's regular season co-champ Lipscomb. The only problem with winning a conference championship is the pressure to repeat the next season. Such is the case for the Lipscomb Bisons and head coach Scott Sanderson. Last season the Bisons were 15-5 in the conference, tying to the Atlantic Sun regular season championship. They finished second to Belmont in the conference tournament, earning a berth in the National Invitation Tournament, the first postseason play for the Bisons.

Coach Scott Sanderson on the Bisons

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SEASON PREVIEW - (Courtesy Lipscomb Media Relations)

Preseason polls have pegged the Bisons as a close second to Belmont for the conference title.

“In our three years in the league we have always finished higher than where we were picked,” said Sanderson. “We have been picked second this year. All that is just opinion. We are going to do everything in our power to try to win the league again.”

The Bisons were the top defensive team in the conference last season. Sanderson thinks the team will be even better defensively, but he also wants to see a slight boost in scoring.

“We are going to be a good shooting team,” said Sanderson. “We are going to be a better passing team. Last year we scored 72-to-73 points a game. I feel like we need to score six-to10 more points a game, combined with our defense, teams will have trouble catching us. We should be much better defensively. And the last two years we have been the best defensive team in the league.”

The Bisons were approximately 29 seconds away from the tournament title and their first NCAA berth. They lost 85-66 at the University of Texas-El Paso in the first round, but gained a great deal of confidence in the process.

“We have confidence,” said Sanderson. “That is so important for players to go out and expect to win. They have to play with confidence and passion. At the same time we are not going to allow them to get too confident.”

Read the full season preview

10 Days of A-Sun Basketball Schedule
Oct. 16 - Belmont
Oct. 17 - Campbell
Oct. 18 - ETSU
Oct. 19 - Gardner-Webb
Oct. 20 - Jacksonville
Oct. 23 - Kennesaw State
Oct. 24 - Lipscomb
Oct. 25 - Mercer
Oct. 26 - UNF
Oct. 27 - Stetson