Liberty returns home to the Vines Center for the first time in nearly a month where the Flames will play host to the Jacksonville Dolphins. Tip-off is scheduled for 2pm and the game will be televised on ESPN+.
Jacksonville is 8-9 on the season and have opened ASUN play at 1-1. They took defending champ and preseason favorite Lipscomb to the brink, falling to the Bison by 3 at home in their conference opener. In that game, the Dolphins trailed most of the way, but made a comeback in the final stages of the game, eventually missing a 3 pointer as time expired that would have tied it up and sent the game to overtime.
On Wednesday, Jacksonville evened up its ASUN record by throttling Kennesaw State, 90-70, on the road.
Last season, the Dolphins finished 8-6 in ASUN play, advancing to the semifinals of the league tournament before falling to Lipscomb.
Reigning ASUN Freshman of the Year JD Notae leads the way for head coach Tony Jasick. The 6’2″ guard is averaging 14.5 points, 5.9 rebounds, and 4 assists per game. He’s coming off a triple-double against Kennesaw State when he had 15 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists.
“Jacksonville is way better than their record, you can throw that out the window,” Coach McKay said of the Dolphins. “They are 8-9, they played 6 or 7 buy games, they played a bunch on the road, they’ve had some injuries. They are way better than their record. (Jasick) does a good job. He did a good job at Fort Wayne Purdue. They present some challenges that Austin Peay presented. They got some really good athletes, they commit to the defensive end. We will have to be good on both ends of the floor.”
