Javonte Green drives against Andrew Smith. bigsouthsports.com

Javonte Green drives against Andrew Smith.
bigsouthsports.com

Liberty dropped its Big South opener last night in Radford 63-72 in a tough game to watch. As the Flames jumped out to a 9-0 then 13-2 lead, the idea of a possible blowout win probably crept in to the minds of many fans, but the Highlanders would steadily find their way back.

The Flames would stall at 23 points for six minutes while missing a few layup and even dunk opportunities while Radford was chipping away at the lead. Back to back 3s from Ya Ya Anderson would prove to be the lift Radford would need, and the Highlanders would go into the half with a 2 point lead 35-33.

The second half started very competitively, but by the 12 minute mark both Tomasz Gielo and Joel Vander Pol picked up their fourth foul. A few minutes later things seemed to fall apart for the Flames. Joe Retic would turn the ball over on three consecutive possessions during a dry stint for Liberty and John Caleb Sanders had some very out of control shot attempts off drives in an effort to bring the Flames back. It would be too late before the Flames would find themselves again.

Radford was led by RJ Price who tallied 18 points and had a great game. Javonte Green (12 points 8 reb), Ya Ya Anderson (13 points), and off the bench, Rashun Davis (12 points) all put together nice games. The Highlanders only shot 39% from the field and 19% from 3 on the night.

Tomasz Gielo, Andrew Smith, and Davon Marshall all had 11 points for the Flames while John Caleb Sanders would have 12. JR Coronado may have had the best game for the Flames. He went 3-3 from the field and 2-2 from the line for 8 points and 7 rebounds in just 16 minutes. The bench only contributed 16% of the points after averaging 33% on the season. The Flames shot well, 45% from the field, but the 17 turnovers would prove costly.

Liberty is now 6-10 and 0-7 on the road this season. They will need this road streak to end ASAP if they expect to compete in the Big South this year. The Flames will get their chance to bounce back on Saturday at VMI.