Liberty moved to 5-0 to start the season for the first time since 1991 and just the second time every during the program’s time as a Division I program as the Flames defeated Navy, 55-48, Tuesday night in front of an announced attendance of 4,010 in the Vines Center.
Kyle Rode made his first career start for the Flames as he got the nod for Caleb Homesley who was a late scratch for what the team is describing as load management.
“We decided not to play Caleb to rest him,” McKay said after the game. “He got a little tweak yesterday in practice and didn’t feel like he was full strength. So, if there’s such a thing as load management in college..I’m not in favor of it, but the way he’s played and the things that he’s done for our program, we want to make sure we honor him and his body as well. (He) probably could have played if it was late in the season. We fully expect him back soon.”
Elijah Cuffee and Darius McGhee hit a pair of triples to get the Liberty scoring started as the Flames opened the game with a 10-7 lead at the first media timeout. Myo Baxter-Bell was the first sub off the bench as the Flames went to a larger than usual lineup with Baxter-Bell and Scottie James playing alongside one another for several minutes early.
With Homesley not playing, the Flames went with a rotation of seven with Myo and Shiloh Robinson being the first subs off the bench. At the 6:51 mark of the first half, McKay went to the redshirt-freshman Blake Preston
Navy went 9 minutes and 31 seconds without a field goal as Liberty went on an extended run to push the lead to double figures. The Midshipmen did a good job of getting to the free throw line, but they struggled to knock the shots down from the charity stripe as well.
The Flames were unable to extend the lead during this stretch as Navy held Liberty to 7-of-21 shooting from the field. The Liberty lead got to as many as 10 during the Navy cold stretch in the first half, but they cut it to 6 by the under four media timeout.
Liberty entered the halftime break with a 24-15 lead as they held Navy to 4-of-18 (22.2%) shooting in the first half. The Flames were unable to take advantage of their cold shooting as Liberty wasn’t much better, being held to 8-of-24 (33.3%). The team’s saving grace was shooting 5-of-10 from three, led by true freshman Shiloh Robinson who knocked down both of his first half triples.
Georgie Pacheco-Ortiz, Myo Baxter-Bell, and Scottie James struggled offensively in the first half, they were a combined 2-of-16 from the field. James was held scoreless in the opening 20 minutes. With Homesley out, Liberty really needed these seniors to step up offensively.
The Flames, led by Darius McGhee, started the second half with a strong burst to push the lead into a comfortable margin. McGhee scored 8 points during the first 8 minutes of second half action as Liberty led 39-23 at the under 12 media timeout.
Out of the timeout, the Midshipmen would make their best run of the evening with eight straight points to quickly cut the Liberty lead to 39-31 as McKay called a timeout with 9:55 to play.
The lead would get to 7 before Pacheco-Ortiz would connect on just his second field goal of the evening, both of them coming from three. It would push Liberty’s lead back to 10.
Kyle Rode would make two big defensive plays on consecutive Navy possessions, forcing a turnover and then blocking a shot in the paint.
The Midshipmen would stay within striking distance as they would trail by just 7 at the final media timeout of the game with 3:50 to play.
Elijah Cuffee got into the paint and exploded for a two-handed dunk in traffic to push the lead to 9 out of the timeout, but Navy responded with six straight points
The game would remain close as the Midshipmen cut it to just three with 42.3 seconds to play before the Flames answered with eight made free throws down the stretch to clinch the victory. Baxter-Bell hit the first two to push it to five and then Cuffee stole the in-bounds pass and was fouled where he hit both of his foul shots.
“Cuff’s play when they were rolling the ball to get the steal there, that’s just savvy,” McKay remarked. “We’ve got a majority of guys that just do the little things that lead to winning.”
McGhee has evolved in his game so much since last season. He used to be a liability on defense, but against Navy he was able to force several turnovers and jump balls. He was also Liberty’s best offensive player throughout the majority of the game. He would finish the game with 13 points on eight shot attempts while playing 39 minutes.
Pacheco-Ortiz finished with 12 points on just 3-of-12 shooting from the field and 2-of-7 from three as he continues his cold shooting to begin the season. Cuffee added 10 points while James had a team-high 9 rebounds.
Scottie James moved up to 7th on the school’s all-time rebounding list as he surpassed Peter Aluma and Cliff Webber who are tied with 682. In just two plus seasons, James has 689 rebounds with the Flames. He’s averaging over 9 rebounds per game this season.
Navy finished the game shooting just 31.8% from the field and 4-of-24 (16.7%) from three point range, but the Midshipmen got the edge on the boards, 41-27.
“We were tremendous defensively,” said McKay. “That’s how we ended up earning the victory tonight.”
Liberty will take its unbeaten record to the Bahamas for three games in three days beginning Friday against Morgan State.
