Liberty will finish the week unbeaten, as the Flames defeat the Bluefield Rams, 86-64. The Flames are now 2-0 in Lynchburg, as they open the season undefeated at home in the inaugural week of Liberty Arena.
Offense was prevalent in the first half, as the two teams combined for 93 total points. Liberty struggled against the dynamic duo of Stanley Christian and Jeremiah Jenkins, who had 19 points a piece at the end of the first half. Elijah Cuffee helped the Flames maintain a lead in the first, with 12 points on 4-4 shooting from 3 point land. While defense was a struggle, the Liberty offense did a great job of spreading the ball around, as eight different Flames scored for Liberty in the first half totaling 50 points.
Liberty hunkered down in the second half, as the Flames held Bluefield to just 21 points. A huge reason for that was Liberty was able to contain Christian and Jenkins, who combined for 13 points in the second half, as opposed to 38 in the first. Darius McGhee was a huge spark for the Flames offense, scoring 21 points, 13 of which came in the second half. Liberty continued to spread the ball around in the second half, as 10 different Liberty players scored. Josh Price gave the Flames some good minutes, as the sophomore went for 7 points on 3-5 shooting, including playing well on the defensive end.
With the win over Bluefield, Liberty extends their home winning streak to 25 games in a row. The Flames came into Saturday averaging about 11 three pointers made a game. Liberty hit 16 threes today (43 attempts), giving them an average of 37.2% from three. Liberty shot well overall, finishing the day with a 48.5 field goal percentage. The Flames won the turnover and rebound battles, as they forced 11 Rams turnovers while only giving up 6, and outrebounded Bluefield, 39-31.
Next up for the Flames are the Missouri Tigers from the SEC. The Tigers currently sit at 2-0, and are coming off a huge win against #21 Oregon, defeating the Ducks 83-75. Missouri also defeated Oral Roberts earlier in the year, with a dominating 91-64 final score. Missouri G Xavier Pinson has had an amazing start to the season, as he is averaging 19.5 points and shooting 52.2% from the field. If the Flames want to secure a third victory over an SEC opponent, they will have to lockdown Pinson. The Tigers will face Wichita State on Sunday, and if they can win the game it would not be a surprise to see them ranked next week. This would give Liberty their first (and probably only) crack at a top 25 team. The Flames and Tigers will tip-off next Wednesday at 8:15 in Mizzou Arena. You can watch the game on the SEC Network.
