The Liberty Flames (13-5, 5-2) get a comeback win in the final five minutes of the game Friday night over the Jacksonville Dolphins (9-8, 3-4), 59-54. With the win, the Flames are now 6-0 all-time against the Dolphins. The Flames also improve to 25-0 against ASUN teams not named Lipscomb, North Florida, or Stetson since joining the conference a couple of seasons ago.
Liberty’s struggles on Friday night in ASUN play have been well documented, and the Flames are able to come out on top Friday in Jacksonville despite struggling offensively through the first 35 minutes. The Flames are now 2-2 on Fridays and will look to improve to 4-0 on Saturdays tomorrow.
It was a defensive slug-fest in the first half as both teams couldn’t find any offensive rhythm. Liberty was just 8 of 29 (27.6%) from the field and 3 of 16 (18.8%) from three point range in the first 20 minutes. It wasn’t much better for the Dolphins who only connected on 9 of 30 (30.0%) field goals and 2 of 9 (22.2%) from three.
In the opening minutes, the Flames made it a point of emphasis to get the ball to Blake Preston on each and every possession as head coach Ritchie McKay hoped to get his team off to a strong start following a 13-day layoff between games. Liberty grabbed the lead in the opening minutes and maintained it throughout the first half until Jacksonville was able to tie it up going into the halftime break.
The Flames did a terrific job bottling up Jacksonville’s leading scorer, Dontarius James, to begin the game as the Xavier transfer went to the bench midway through the opening half with 0 points after picking up two offensive fouls. After heading to the bench for a few minutes, the 6’7″ forward would check back in and he provided a spark for Jacksonville. He scored 8 points in the closing minutes of the first half to even up the score.
After struggling two weeks ago at Stetson, Darius McGhee got going in the first half with two triples on his four attempts as the junior led the Flames with 8 points going into the locker room. Keegan McDowell added 5 points and 3 rebounds off the bench in the first half as Liberty and Jacksonville were tied at 22 at the intermission.
In the second half, Jacksonville would grab their first lead of the game early, and would lead throughout much of the half. The Dolphins would push their lead to a game high 9 points at 42-33 with 6:59 left in the game. With the Flames looking like they may drop another Friday night game, the offense would come alive.
Through the first 33 minutes and 17 seconds of game action, Liberty struggled to just 33 points while shooting 14 of 46 from the field and 4 of 26 from three point range. Senior grad transfer Chris Parker would ignite the offense down the stretch as the Flames caught fire.
Parker drained a three-pointer at the 6:42 mark to cut the Jacksonville lead to 6 points. That bucket was the first of 13 straight points for the Flames as Liberty would regain the lead at 46-42, a lead LU would not relinquish. The run would extend to 20-4 as the Flames led 53-46 with just 1:08 left in the game.
During the run, Liberty made 6 of 8 field goal attempts, including 3 of 4 from three point range as the Flames would score 26 points in the final 6:42 of game action. Parker scored 11 of his team high 18 points in the final 6:42 of the game.
Following the Parker three to cut JU’s lead to six, Darius McGhee would make a layup, Kyle Rode would hit a triple, and McGhee would make a jumper in the lane following a Rode offensive board to give Liberty the lead, 43-42.
For the game, Liberty would make 20 of 54 (37.0%) field goals and 7 of 30 (23.3%) from three point range. Parker’s 18 points would come on 6 of 10 shooting and 3 of 4 from behind the arc. He also added 3 rebounds and 3 assists. McGhee would be the only other player to reach double figures with 12 points on 5 of 14 shooting and 2 of 10 from three.
Blake Preston would add 8 points and 6 rebounds to go along with Kyle Rode’s 7 points and 8 rebounds. Elijah Cuffee would struggle to just 4 points on 1 of 7 shooting and 0 of 6 from three.
In games decided by 9 points or fewer this season, Liberty is now 2-4 with the only previous win coming against Kennesaw State. On the flip side, the Flames are 11-1 in games decided by 10 points or more with the only loss coming in the season opener against Purdue, 77-64.
The Flames and Dolphins will tangle once again tomorrow evening with tip-off from Swisher Gymnasium in Florida scheduled for 6 p.m. and televised once again on ESPN+. Liberty would be looking for the series sweep for the second time this season over an ASUN opponent.
