by NEW YORK – Lipscomb ended the game on a 14-0 run to knock Wichita State out of the NIT with a 71-64 win in the semifinals.
Dexter Dennis led the Shockers with 13 points, while Markis McDuffie had 12 points and seven rebounds and Samajae Haynes-Jones finished with 11 points and eight rebounds.
Garrison Mathews finished with 34 points and five rebounds for the Bisons.
The Shockers started just 1-for-7 from the floor and fell behind 7-2 at the first media timeout of the half. Mathews scored 10 of the first 14 points for the Bisons and the Shockers needed a McDuffie layup to break up a two-minute scoring drought and make the score 14-9 Lipscomb.
Two free throws from Ricky Torres and buckets by Stevenson and Echenique gave WSU the 15-14 lead. The Shockers pushed the lead to 19-14 after baskets from Haynes-Jones and McDuffie.
Back-to-back threes from Dennis put the Shockers up 25-18 with just under six minutes left in the half, but the Bisons answered with two-straight three’s to pull within 25-24. Isaiah Poor Bear-Chandler (Oglala Lakota) added the last bucket of the half to trail 35-30 at the break.
Five points from Dennis pulled WSU within 40-39 with 16 minutes left in the second half. Two McDuffie free throws put WSU ahead 41-40, but the Bisons answered with a three for a 43-41 lead.
Haynes-Jones’ jumper in the corner tied it at 43 and two free throws from Midtgaard gave WSU a 45-43 lead with a little over 14 minutes left in the game.
Haynes-Jones’ three made it 50-43 at the under 12 timeout and capped a 16-3 WSU run over a five-minute span.
Dunks from Stevenson and Haynes-Jones pushed the Shocker lead to 61-50 and forced a Lipscomb timeout.
The Shockers scored just three points the rest of the way and the Bisons ended the game on a 14-0 run to earn the 71-64 win.
