NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Lipscomb (14-7, 7-1 ASUN) made 20 3-pointers on Friday afternoon en route to a 86-71 win over Florida Gulf Coast men's basketball (8-13, 2-6) on Thursday afternoon.

The Bisons only hit six 2-pointers in the contest, all of which came in the second half, but went 20-for-37 from beyond the arc and 14-for-16 at the free throw line. 

Isaiah Malone led FGCU with a career high 23 points on 9-for-10 shooting from the field. Malone now has five double-digit scoring outings in ASUN play after tallying four throughout the nonconference slate; his 23 points against Lipscomb surpassed his previous career high of 17 against Queens on January 15 for his first 20-point game. Rory Stewart scored 15 and Jordan Ellerbee added 12 points for the Eagles.  

Malone hit a layup to open the game and a 3-pointer a minute later, and Michael Duax scored on a pair of putbacks, including an and-one, to propel FGCU to an early 8-0 run and 17-7 lead. Malone and Rahmir Barno added two more buckets to extend the Eagles lead to 20-10 just under the 13 minute mark. The Bisons only made three 3-pointers during the opening six minutes, but made six over the next seven minutes to take a 28-22 lead. 

Darren Williams hit a triple for FGCU and Malone scored four to retake the lead at 29-28, but three more Lipscomb 3-pointers followed to give the Bisons a 37-30 halftime lead. 

The Bisons' first 2-pointer of the evening was a layup on the first possession of the second half. Lipscomb would make four more layups and one dunk in the period for all of their made non-3-point shots, along with a 13-for-14 mark at the charity stripe in the second half.

FGCU cut into the deficit with an extended 14-4 run from 9:16 to 5:36 in the second half with a combined effort from Malone, Jack Reddick and Rory Stewart, but the Bisons hit four more 3-pointers in the closing minutes to secure the 86-71 win.

Ross Candelino led Lipscomb with 17 points on 5-for-7 shooting from 3-point range and Ethan Duncan added 15 points on five made triples.

Next, FGCU returns home to conclude its regular season series against North Alabama at 7 p.m. on January 29.

Tickets are on sale now for ASUN action at https://fgcuathletics.evenue.net/list/FGCU. 

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