Liberty posts its 7th consecutive win by defeating North Carolina A&T on Saturday night from Liberty Arena, 83-74, to improve to 10-1 on the season.
“Winning is hard in college basketball,” said Liberty head coach Ritchie McKay following the game. “We had a dose of that tonight. I think it’s really good for us to have a team that played as competitively as A&T did. They’ve got two explosive guards. Those dudes are legitimately averaging a whole bunch of points. Pleased in our second half response, I thought that was mature.”
Owen Aquino was very aggressive for the Flames in the opening minutes. He scored the team’s first nine points, which was more than he had scored in any of the previous four games and the most he had scored so far at Liberty Arena. He also knocked down his first three of the season during the opening stretch after missing his first three from behind the arc.
After Aquino went to the bench, it was Jayvon Maughmer’s turn. The Cedarville transfer scored 6 points to help the Flames push its lead to 17-8.
Things would get sloppy on the offensive end for the next several minutes for the Flames while the Aggies kept things interesting by hitting the offensive glass. The visitors had six offensive rebounds early, turning those into eight second chance points, trailing by just four at 23-19 with 7 minutes left in the first half.
A&T cut the lead to two as they started to knock down some shots and began playing with some confidence. Isaiah Ihnen helped hold off the their push by scoring five straight for the Flames to extend the lead to seven at 33-26 with four minutes left in the opening half.
The Aggies went on an 11-3 run to take their first and only lead of the opening half at 37-36 with a minute left in the opening 20 minutes. A Maughmer three-pointer on the next possession put the Flames back ahead at 39-37 at the break.
Just like the first half, Liberty went to Aquino out of the halftime break. He scored the first nine points of the second half, just like he did in the opening half. Then Kaden Metheny knocked down a three-pointer to push the lead to 10 at 51-41, forcing the Aggies to call a timeout less than four minutes into the second half.
Zach Cleveland, making his return to the lineup after missing the previous two games with a boot on his right leg, was much more aggressive in the second half on the offensive floor. After six first half assists, he started to attack the basket and get to the free throw line, helping the Flames push its lead over down the stretch run. North Carolina A&T kept the margin close, only falling by nine points.
Liberty got a scare late in the second half with both Colin Porter and Isaiah Ihnen leaving the game with injuries. Porter was able to return to action while Ihnen left the court for the locker room after a short time on a stationary bike sideline. He would not return to the bench or the game in the closing minutes. McKay said after the game he wasn’t sure about Ihnen’s status and said he thinks Porter was cramps.
“We can’t compare scores,” said McKay. “Every game is different. We knew this group was going to be dangerous – nothing to lose, got beat badly at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg. Once you see the ball go in when you are that confident of a scorer, then we had a little game pressure which is good. I think we’ve responded so far in our 11th game, we’ve responded so far well to game pressure. Winning is hard. I don’t care how many we win by, it can be one, it can be 20. I want to win the game. Pleased with the outcome. I want to make sure our guys feel that joy too, otherwise you get crippled by expectation. No man is good when he’s crippled by expectation of others or himself.”
Aquino paced the way with a career-high 28 points on 12 of 20 shooting. He also made two of his three point attempts. He added 10 rebounds to notch the double-double, the second of his Liberty career and first since the season opener against Valpo.
“I think the more Owen resides in our system,” McKay stated about his big man. “He and Zach together are really tough to guard. Both of them can pass the ball. A&T’s plan was to lock on our guards, don’t let them shoot, so the interior was open. Maybe last year we didn’t have the same length and size and finishing ability at the rim. I think this year this group has that.”
Cleveland had 12 points, 7 assists, and 5 rebounds while Maughmer also reached 12 points and Peter added 10.
Liberty dominated in the paint, outscoring the Aggies, 48-14. North Carolina A&T had 16 second chance points off eight offensive rebounds.
“When you have so many days in between games, you lose a little rhythm,” said McKay. “We hadn’t played with Zach on the floor for more than maybe 20 minutes in a practice for two and a half weeks. I expected a little funkiness. We got off to a good start, but that was because those two guards weren’t hitting. Then, when they started making a couple buckets, they got confident and put some game pressure on us. It’s just part of the process. We are on that runway still. We haven’t taken off yet. This team has a lot of opportunity to get better.”
Liberty will return to action, continuing its month long home-stand, on Tuesday night against St. Andrews with tip scheduled for 7 p.m. The Flames will then conclude its month of December by taking on UT Arlington on Saturday at 2 p.m. Both games will best streamed on ESPN+.
