Liberty (20-5, 11-2) defeated Bellarmine (13-5, 10-3) 94-78 at Freedom Hall in Louisville, Kentucky on Saturday afternoon to win a third straight ASUN regular season title. It’s the program’s 5th regular season conference title of all-time, having won two in the Big South, but this marks the Flames’ first ever outright regular season conference title.
“Their ability to come on the road, against a really good team, and play as consistent on both ends of the floor, I thought it was special,” Liberty head coach Ritchie McKay said following the win. “Really proud that myself and our coaching staff get a chance to be a part of these young men’s lives. They are a special group. We have great leadership in our athletic department, and their commitment to making our program competitive, we’re real thankful for.”
Liberty becomes the third team to win three straight regular seasons titles in the ASUN. The last team to do so was Georgia State who accomplished the feat from 2000-2002.
The win also clinches a program record 5th straight 20-win season, the 10th 20-win season in program history. McKay has guided the Flames to 6 of those during his 8 seasons at the helm.
Liberty entered the game as a two point favorite, but the Flames led by double digits most of the way. Darius McGhee would hit a three-pointer on the team’s first possession as Liberty led from wire to wire. It was just the beginning of McGhee’s strong play for a fourth straight game as the junior guard surpassed the 20-point mark for the fourth straight game.
McGhee would finish the game with a career-high 34 points as he shot 12 of 18 from the field and 8 of 11 from three-point range. He had two four-point plays in the first half as his late season push warrants strong consideration to be named the ASUN’s Player of the Year. His 34 points are the most by a Flame since Kyle Ohman scored 39 points against VMI on Feb. 20, 2010, and his 8 made triples ties a school record set by Larry Jackson on Nov. 29, 1996.
The Flames led by as many as 20 points on a Shiloh Robinson bucket at the 8:26 mark of the second half to make the score 76-56, but the Knights wouldn’t go away quietly. Bellarmine would go on a 20-7 run over the next six minutes of game action to cut the Liberty lead to 83-76 with 2:07 left in the game.
After trading buckets, the Flames would close the game on a 9-0 run highlighted by a Darius McGhee fast break dunk with 43 seconds left in the game. Liberty would finish the game with four straight defensive stops against the strong offensive Bellarmine team.
“They are a great offensive team,” Kyle Rode said. “It makes it difficult to put consecutive stops together. So, when we did that to end the game, I felt really good about it.”
Chris Parker added 19 points while Elijah Cuffee chipped in 12 points and Shiloh Robinson had a career-high 11 points. Kyle Rode rounded out the double figure scorers with 10 points to go along with 9 assists and 7 rebounds.
Liberty shot 62.5% from the field and made 15 of 25 (60%) from three on the afternoon. Bellarmine made 58% of its field goals, but was limited to just 3 of 11 from behind the arc.
Former Liberty guard and current Erie BayHawks guard Caleb Homesley joined the team on FaceTime in the locker room following the game as he led the team in the post game prayer.
Riding a 9-game overall win streak, Liberty enters next week’s ASUN Tournament as the No. 1 seed. The ASUN Quarterfinals are scheduled to begin Thursday, March 4 in Jacksonville, Florida. The Flames will play 8-seed Kennesaw State at 2 pm on Thursday from UNF Arena unless a second ASUN team joins the Jacksonville Dolphins in not being able to compete in the Tournament due to COVID. If that happens, Liberty will receive a bye into the semifinals.
