Liberty (9-4) heads to Boiling Springs, North Carolina to open the Big South portion of their schedule Saturday against Gardner-Webb (5-8) for a 4:30 tip.
The Flames will put its 2-0 road record this season on the line against the Runnin’ Bulldogs. In Tim Craft’s 5th season at GWU, they’ve only managed two wins against Division I opponents, both coming against future Big South members Hampton and USC Upstate who have 3 total DI wins combined. They also have a bad loss against Jacksonville in triple overtime as part of the Wright State Invitational Thanksgiving Classic.
6’2″ junior guard David Efianayi leads the Runnin’ Bulldogs with 17.1 points per game while 6’6″ junior forward DJ Laster adds 15.2 points and 6.5 rebounds per game, as they attempt to replace the likes of Tyrell Nelson and Laquincy Rideau.
Liberty is coming off a 2016-17 campaign which saw the team set a program record with 14 Big South wins. It’s 9-4 non-conference mark to begin the 2017-18 season, marks the first Big South team to pick up 9 non-conference wins since Coastal Carolina’s 2014-15 season. The 9 non-conference wins are also the most for the Flames since the 2008-09 season, and it’s a big improvement on last year’s 2-8 mark against Division I opponents last November and December.
