A disappointing opening game of the New Orleans Shootout as Liberty lost to Fort Wayne, 75-64. The Mastodons raced out to an early 20-6 lead and never looked back, leading throughout and by as many as 20 points on the afternoon.
Liberty made a run midway through the first half as it attempted to make it a ballgame, cutting the Mastodons lead to 5 with 8:40 left in the first half before Fort Wayne finished the half on a 21-6 run to take a 47-27 lead into the halftime break.
The Flames came out of the half with a tremendous amount of energy, cutting the Mastodons lead to 3 at 55-52 with 6:46 left in the game. After going cold the first 14 minutes of the 2nd half, Fort Wayne woke up with three 3 pointers in the midst of an 11-2 run to push their lead back to double digits at 66-54.
Myo Baxter-Bell left the game in the first few minutes, as he suffered an apparent injury to his lower left leg. He was seen on the bench with ice on his left ankle and later was on crutches behind the team’s bench. After the game, Coach McKay said that Myo “rolled an ankle” and that he will “more than likely not play” Friday.
In addition to Myo’s absence, Isaiah Williams and Scottie James had a difficult time staying on the floor in the first half as they each picked up two fouls early, which led to Ezra Talbert getting an extended run in the opening stanza as the Flames were forced to go to a smaller lineup than it has done much of the season.
Four Flames paced the team in scoring as Lovell Cabbil, Ryan Kemrite, and Scottie James all finished with 15 points a piece. In his first start of the season, Caleb Homesley added 14. James had his 4th double-double of the season, as he grabbed 12 boards.
Both teams combined for 35 turnovers, including Liberty’s 18. Coach McKay’s squad shot 43% from the field for the game, but was 54% in the 2nd half. Liberty was outscored by the Mastodons from the charity stripe 20-11 as Fort Wayne attempted 13 more free throws.
With three made 3 pointers, Ryan Kemrite moved ahead of Kyle Ohman into 5th place on Liberty’s career 3 point field goal made list with 202. Kemrite is just 5 made 3s behind Matt Hildebrand for 4th place on the list, Larry Blair is Liberty’s career leader in the category with 227.
Liberty will face the loser of Louisiana Tech-Alabama State Friday afternoon at 1pm in the team’s final regular season non-conference game. The Flames open conference play Saturday, December 30th at Gardner-Webb.
