With less than 10 seconds on the clock and the ball in Lipscomb guard Will Pruitt's hands, Middle Tennessee fans cheered loudly as the ball rolled off Pruitt's fingertips. The three-point attempt smacked off the backboard and into Middle Tennessee's Essam Mostafa's hands for his 10th and final rebound of the night. The big man let out a yell that could be heard over the raucous crowd, signifying the end of a hard-fought 67-65 win for Middle Tennessee (9-3, 0-0 CUSA) over the Lipscomb Bisons (7-5, 0-0 ASUN).

Middle Tennessee was able to storm out to a quick five-point advantage thanks to a step-back three-pointer followed by a nice mid-range jumper from Justin Bufford to give the Blue Raiders an early 13-8 advantage heading into the game's first media timeout. Both teams traded blows throughout the rest of the first half, with each also surviving cold spells that spanned over three minutes in total scoring droughts.

Coming into the game, Middle Tennessee ranked fifth in the country nationally in defending the three-pointer, with the fifth lowest three-point field goal percentage allowed. In the first half, the Blue Raiders held the Bisons to a mere 10% from beyond the arc, which helped Middle Tennessee to a 37-30 advantage on the scoreboard at the half.

Though Camryn Weston had a 30-point outburst Monday night against California Baptist, the Blue Raiders had a balanced offensive attack, and that remained the same throughout the first half tonight against Lipscomb. At the break, Middle Tennessee had a total of five players that had at least five points. That list included: Jlynn Counter (6), Jestin Porter (7), Kamari Lands (5), Bufford (5) and Tre Green (5). Lipscomb was paced on the scoreboard by big man Jacob Ognacevic, who had 15 first-half points to go along with two rebounds.

Middle Tennessee led by as much as 10 points at 54-44 with just over 10 minutes to go in the game, but the Bisons wouldn't go away. With 5:54 to go, Lipscomb came all the way back to tie the game at 62 a piece before Porter hit the eventual game-winning floater for Middle Tennessee with just over a minute to go.

In the second half, a big advantage that helped the Blue Raiders was their consistency at the free-throw line. Middle Tennessee continued to limit Lipscomb's ability to shoot the three, as the Bison's final three-point field goal percentage on the night was 22% on 4-of-18 from long range. Middle Tennessee also did great work on the boards, outrebounding Lipscomb 47-29. Mostafa led the charge with 10 rebounds. Porter had eight boards and Bufford and Torey Alston also had five a piece.

Ognacevic continued to lead the way in the second half for Lipscomb, as the big man finished with 32 points on 12-of-18 from the field. For Middle Tennessee, two-guard Porter led the way with 14 points and eight rebounds. Mostafa had 12 points and 10 rebounds, good for his seventh double-double of the year. A trio of Blue Raiders that included Alston, Counter and Lands finished with eight points.

By the Numbers:
4: Lipscomb is the fourth opponent the Blue Raiders have faced this season that was picked to win its conference.
22%: The final three-point field goal percentage for Lipscomb. Middle Tennessee was only allowing opponents to shoot 24.6% from distance coming into the night.
47:29:The rebounding margin in tonight's contest, in favor of the Blue Raiders.

Player's Perspective: SR G Jestin Porter
"We knew it was going to be a tough one," Porter said. "After every timeout and at the start of the first and second half, they liked to go to those backdoor plays, so we tried to really be aware of that. We missed a lot of shots (down low) and they got a lot of fouls called for them in the second half, so we had to battle. I just want to give a shoutout to my teammates. We've been watching a lot of film and we've been really locked in over these past few games. It was packed in here tonight. We'd love for everyone to keep coming back out."

McDevitt's Mic:
"We talked about being able to string together multiple stops in the last media timeout," said Head Coach Nick McDevitt. "We got two in a row coming into that timeout and nearly three. I told the guys we'd need one more to win, and we got that. We got a big stop at the end to win. You can see why Ognacevic was the preseason player of the year in their conference. He's a matchup nightmare and can shoot with good foot speed. (Lipscomb's) a great team. Anytime you can find a way to beat them, you have to earn it. Fortunately, we got a few offensive rebounds that really helped down the stretch."

Up next: Middle Tennessee will head east down I-40 for a Monday night matchup with the No. 1 Tennessee Volunteers. Tip-off is set for 6:00 CDT and the game will be televised on SEC Network and can be heard on WGNS Radio, locally.