The Liberty Flames moved to 2-0 on the young season with a 93-40 win against Trevecca Nazarene.
First Half
Unlike the season opener, the Flames wasted no time pushing their lead to double figures against the non-DI team. Trevecca Nazarene, led by former Liberty assistant coach Omar Mance, had trouble getting quality shots against the Liberty packline defense. The Trojans shot just 7-of-22 from the field in the first half and had 13 turnovers.
Liberty was paced in the first 20 minutes by a balanced scoring attack as 10 of the 11 players that got playing time scored a bucket, led by Keegan McDowell’s 8 points. Lovell Cabbil had 7 points on just 1 field goal attempt as he was a perfect 4-of-4 from the charity stripe. Freshman Darius McGhee had 6 points and nearly brought down the house with a putback dunk off a McDowell’s missed 3.
All added together it was a 44-19 margin at the break.
Second Half
The 2nd stanza was much of the same as Liberty used an early 16-0 run to push its lead over 40 points, paced by Scottie James who was seeking his 2nd straight double-double to open the season.
The entire lineup got into the game and got on the board as the rout was on in the 2nd half. Brendan Newton, the only Flame that didn’t score in the first half, got a few buckets. At 7’2″, he towered over the TNU defenders.
“Coach gave me the opportunity to do that,” Homesley said following the win. “I know that he rested a lot of people tonight. So, it gave other people the opportunities to go out there and just play basketball, and I think that I was just at the right spot at the right time.”
“I was really, really pleased with our guys’ commitment to each and every possession,” McKay said. “I thought that was a sign of maturity, happy with the way we played. This is a process, no one will remember these two games. They will judge us on Kent, Vandy, Navy, Georgia State. For me, I just want to keep getting better every time we play or practice, and I think we did that tonight.”
Stat Check
Trevecca Nazarene finished the game with 20 turnovers and shot just 27% from the field.
Homesley had a career high with 12 rebounds. He also had 10 points and 6 assists.
James was 6-of-6 from the field as he led the team with 15 points and finished with 10 rebounds to record his 2nd straight double-double this season.
McGhee continues to impress as a true freshman. He finished with 9 points, 5 rebounds, 3 steals, 2 assists, and 1 block.
In addition to Homesley and James, Lovell Cabbil, Elijah Cuffee, and Keegan McDowell all reached double figures as well.
What’s Next?
Liberty hits the road for the first time this season as they head to Ohio to face Kent State on Friday night. The Golden Flashes moved to 2-0 this season as they have wins over Cleveland State and Shawnee State.
