Last-second upset sends Lipscomb to NIT Final Four

They may have just missed making the NCAA tournament, but Lipscomb University is knocking on the door of a big consolation prize — champion of the National Invitation Tournament.

The men’s basketball team of the Nashville, Tenn., university, associated with Churches of Christ, netted a 94-93 upset over North Carolina State Wednesday in the NIT quarterfinals at Reynolds Coliseum in Raleigh, N.C.

The Bisons (28-7) face Kansas’ own Wichita State Shockers April 2 at Madison Square Garden in New York. Tipoff is 7 p.m. Eatern on ESPN. The winner faces either the Texas University Longhorns or the TCU Horned Frogs in the final.

Junior guard Kenny Cooper scored the game-winning basket for the Bisons with 1.7 seconds left on the clock.

Senior guard Garrison Matthews (No. 24)

Senior Garrison Mathews scored a career-high 44 points.

“My teammates were giving me great passes, great screens,” he told Lumination Network, Lipscomb’s student news service. “They were helping me get open a little bit. It was just nice to get off to a little bit of a start, and it just kept going.

Lipscomb got its invite to the NIT after losing a 74-68 contest against Liberty University in the Atlantic Sun conference championship game. Liberty took the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA tourney.

All three of Lipscomb’s NIT wins happened in North Carolina. The Bisons beat Davidson 89-81 March 19 and dominated The University of North Carolina at Greensboro 86-69 in the second round.

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