Liberty returned to the win column on the road, defeating Jacksonville 71-62 to keep pace with North Florida in first place in the ASUN at 7-2. The Flames improve to 22-3 overall thanks in part to Caleb Homesley’s 25 points.
Caleb Homesley and Scottie James combined to score Liberty’s first 8 points as the Flames controlled the early 8-4 lead by the first media timeout of the game. The Dolphins had difficulty keeping Scottie off the offensive glass as he had two offensive rebounds in the opening minutes while also drawing multiple fouls on the Jacksonville players.
Homesley would continue his strong play early as he got out to 8 quick points on 4-of-7 shooting as the Flames maintained the lead. Both teams would be whistled for 5 fouls each by the 2nd media timeout, Elijah Cuffee would garner 2 of those fouls as he went to the bench. Jacksonville’s big man David Bell picked up his 2nd foul as well.
Liberty maintained the lead, 17-14, as we entered the under 8 media timeout. Homesley continued to pace the team with 10 points while Darius McGhee added 4 quick points.
A quick 5-0 burst by the Flames would extend the lead to its largest of the night at 24-17 thanks to a beautiful spin move and dunk by Myo Baxter-Bell and then a three-pointer from Kyle Rode. The run would extend to 9-0 as Liberty’s lead grew to 11.
Liberty would maintain that margin the rest of the way as Scottie James dominated the closing minutes, and the first half was capped by a three pointer from Caleb Homesley as the Flames entered the locker room with a 38-26 lead.
Homesley led the team with 13 points in the first half as he made 6-of-10 field goals. James added 10 points while McGhee had 6 points and 6 rebounds. Liberty shot 57% from the field in the first half.
The Flames would open the second half with 6 straight points as they tried to put this one out of reach. The lead would grow to 18 before Jacksonville hit two three pointers to stay within striking distance. After playing less than 6 minutes in the first half due to 2 fouls, Elijah Cuffee connected on a straight away three pointer. The lead was 51-34 following a Caleb Homesley put back at the 14:03 mark of the second half.
The Dolphins answered with a 9-0 run to cut the lead to single digits at 8 for the first time since late in the first half, but the Flames would respond. A Georgie Pacheco-Ortiz three pointer from the corner would spark an 8-0 run as the lead grew back to 14. On the next possession, McGhee would find some space in the same spot and sink the three pointer followed by a GPO running layup.
It was Caleb Homesley time once again as he scored 7 straight points for the Flames as he reached 24 points on the evening. Liberty would maintain a comfortable lead down the stretch.
Since dropping two straight last week, Liberty has now played 120 minutes of basketball and has not trailed for a single second.
Homesley would lead the way with 25 points as he made a career high 11 field goals on 19 attempts. He would also add 5 rebounds and 3 assists. Scottie James finished with 14 points and 6 rebounds while Darius McGhee had 13 points and 8 rebounds.
Liberty shot just 26% from three on the evening and 53.8% from the free throw line.
Quick-turnaround for the Flames as they had to North Alabama to face the Lions Saturday afternoon at 4:30. Liberty defeated UNA, 63-52, in the Vines Center on January 9th.
