The Flames return to the hardwood this evening for a matchup with Greensboro College inside the Vines Center. Will Liberty continue their succesful play en route to their 3rd consecutive victory? Find out in the Greensboro College Primer.

1. Team introduction. The Greensboro Pride are a Division III program which competes in the USA South Atlantic Conference. Other USA South Atlantic Conferece members include Averett, Ferrum, Mary Baldwin, and Methodist. The Pride are 2-5 on the season with wins over Bob Jones and Maryland Bible. Their losses have come against Guilford, UNC Greensboro, Bridgewater, Roanoke, and Johnson & Wales. In their only prior game this season against DI competition, Greensboro lost to UNC Greensboro 92-62 on November 20th. The Pride are coached by Bryan Galuski who enters his 9th season as Greensboro’s head coach. Galuski is the winningest coach in Greensboro College men’s hoops history with 115 career wins, and has a career record of 115-104. Greensboro was selected to finish 4th in the 11 member USA South Atlantic Conference. The Pride come into the game on a 5 game losing streak.

 

2. Offense. Greensboro is averaging 70.7 points per game so far this season while shooting just 34.7% from the field. The Pride are only shooting 225% from 3 even though they chuck up over 30 3-point attempts a game. Greensboro is also averaging 15 turnovers per game. Greensboro has a balanced scoring attack with their top 5 scorers averaging between 8.9 and 13.7 points per game. Senior guard Damian Dixon leads the way for the Pride at 13.7 points per game in just 27 minutes per game.


3. Defense. Greensboro is allowing their opponents to score nearly 80 points per game with their last 2 opponents averaging 90. Opponents are shooting 47% from the field on the season and 32% from 3. Greensboro has been outrebounded by a total of 14 boards in their first 7 games. In their lone Division I game against UNC Greensboro, the Pride gave up 92 points while allowing UNC-G to shoot 59% from the field, 50% from 3, and were outrebounded 51-33.

4. Player Turnover. The Pride lost 4 of their top 5 scorers from a season ago. Luqman Tijani was their leading scorer last year. The senior guard averaged 18 points per game while shooting 48% from the field and 35% from 3. Devonta Davis was Greensboro’s 3rd leading scorer a season ago as he averaged 12.4 points per game while shooting nearly 44% from 3.

Damian Dixon

5. Possible Starters. A look at the likely starting line-up for the Pride…

Guard: Will Griffin (#3), a 5’6″, 150-pound Junior, is the starting point guard for the Pride this season. He is leading the team with 3 assists per game and has an assist to turnover ratio of 1.6. Griffin averages 8.9 points per game on 30% shooting and is only shooting 9% from 3-point range.

Guard: Jermaine Bates (#30), a 6’4″, 192-pound Junior, is averaging nearly 6 points and 4 rebounds per game. He is shooting 31% from the field and 22% from 3.

Guard: Damian Dixon (#12), a 6’1″, 210-pound Senior, leads Greensboro in scoring at 13.7 points per game. Dixon is shooting 37% from the field and 19% from 3 while attempting over 5 3-pointers per contest. He also leads the team in rebounding at 8.8 per game.

Forward: Tracy Jester (#15), a 6’5″, 180-pound Junior, is 2nd on the team scoring at 11 points per game. Jester is shooting 33% from the field and making just 17% of his 5 3-point field goal attempts per game.

Forward: Raheem Martin (#33), a 6’4″, 190-pound Junior, averages 3.8 points and 5 rebounds per game while playing 27 minutes each outing.

6. Key Reserves. Some other key contributors…

Guard: Lawrence Butts (#22), a 6’2″, 185-pound Junior, is playing 15 minutes a game while scoring 3.9 points.

Guard: Devan Gregory (#11), a 6’3″, 155-pound Freshman, is the 3rd leading scorer so far this season for the Pride. Gregory is averaging 10.1 points and shooting a team-high 41% from the field.

Guard: Jacob Thomas (#32), a 6’4″, 195-pound Sophomore, is the Pride’s top 3-point shooter. He shoots the deep ball at a 38.5% clip while shooting over 7 3-pointers a game. Thomas averages 9.7 points per game.

7. Prediction. The only way the Pride even keep the game close is if they are shooting lights out from 3. Greensboro will jack it up from deep early and often, but it doesn’t help that the Flames are holding their opponents to just 30% from 3-point range this season. Not to mention the Pride are only shooting 25% from 3 themselves. Liberty turned it around in Texas, and they should have no problem keeping it going inside the Vines Center against the Division III Pride. Liberty 83 Greensboro 58