A put back by Houston’s Corey Davis, Jr in the final second lifted the Cougars to a 68-66 win over Liberty.
The Flames trailed by 3 points on the previous possession before Georgie Pacheco-Ortiz converted a 3-point play to tie the game with 11 seconds left. Pacheco finished the game with 16 points on 5/7 shooting from the field after being scoreless in the first half. He picked up 2 first half fouls which limited his playing time. Georgie also added 3 rebounds. His parents are in town for the tournament this weekend, Georgie hasn’t seen them since Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands were decimated by hurricanes this summer.
The Flames led most of first half, but Houston used an 11-0 run late in the period to take the lead going into halftime. It was a back and forth game that neither team could take control of. The two teams combined for 8 ties and 12 lead changes on the afternoon and nobody led by more than 7 points.
Caleb Homesley, who is returning from an ACL injury he suffered a year ago, did not get any game action. He played 8 minutes against Mercer on Friday. At times during today’s game, Homesley had heating pads on both of his legs as he sat on the bench. Coach McKay said in the postgame that he is ok.
After scoring a career-high 37 points Friday against Drexel, Houston’s leading scorer Rob Gray did most of his damage in the second half, finishing with 19 points. He only had 3 points in the first half, on 1/4 shooting.
Georgie was 1 of 5 Flames to reach double figures, as 4 players scored 11 points a piece. Ryan Kemrite had 11 points on 3/6 shooting from 3 point range, just 1 day after shooting 0/7 from the field. Lovell Cabbil scored 11 points and grabbed 5 rebounds, but he shot just 3/11 from the floor. Myo Baxter-Bell finished the game with 11 points on 4/5 shooting.
Scottie James had 11 points and 7 boards. James and Isaiah Williams started their first game of the season against Houston, providing much more energy early in the game, something that lacked against Mercer.
Liberty will conclude their 3-game Paradise Jam tournament on Sunday at noon. The Flames will face the loser of Quinnipiac and Wake Forest.
