Elijah Cuffee has played in 107 career games at Liberty. We know who he is and what he is capable of. He’s a career 37% three point shooter and he has the ability to score double figures at will.
But he prides himself on his defense, and he has become the Flames’ best perimeter defender and one of the best in the conference. He has routinely shut down opponents’ top perimeter threat on a nightly basis.
Still, his offense can help take Liberty to another level, and it has been sorely missed throughout ASUN league play this season.
In the non-conference portion of the schedule, the junior from Poca, West Virginia was averaging 9.1 points per game while shooting 50.98% from three. He had become a consistent, go to threat for Liberty on the offensive end and helped take pressure off the Flames’ seniors.
Suddenly, during conference play his offensive numbers plummeted. He entered Sunday’s ASUN title bout against Lipscomb averaging just 4.7 points per game in conference play while shooting 19.4% from three.
That makes his performance in the championship game more noteworthy.
As Liberty won the program’s 2nd consecutive ASUN Tournament Championship, it was led by Cuffee who scored a team-high 16 points as he made 4 of his 8 three point field goal attempts.
It was a season high in points and he had need the four previous games to reach 16 points. He hadn’t scored in double figures for 10 straight games entering the championship and had only reached double figures twice in 18 previous ASUN games.
“I was so excited for him,” ASUN Player of the Year and Tournament MVP Caleb Homesley said. “He needed that game, he really did. Especially for it to be this high caliber of a game, for him to come out and do what he did, I think his confidence is definitely back.”
Cuffee hadn’t made more than one three pointer in the prior 11 games and hadn’t made four three point field goals against a Division I opponent all season. For the Flames to advance in the NCAA Tournament, it will need Cuffee to at least be a threat offensively.
“We’ve got so many other guys that can score double figures, 20 on a given night, that he was his own worst enemy,” Liberty head coach Ritchie McKay said. “He put so much pressure on himself. When the first one went in, he had a sense of relief and said, ‘Finally.’ From there, he wasn’t hesitating shooting the next one, which is good.”
