Playing on New Year’s Day, the Liberty Flames were unable to begin conference play in the win column, as Liberty fell to Lipscomb, 77-70. With the loss, the Flames open ASUN play at 0-1 and fall to 8-4 overall.
Playing without head coach Ritchie McKay who had tested positive for COVID-19 earlier this week and did not make the trip to Nashville for the two games this weekend, the Flames got off to a sluggish start. It was also Liberty’s first action since Dec. 22 as the team broke for Christmas break following the win over Alcorn State last Tuesday afternoon.
Perhaps due in part to those two factors, Lipscomb got off to a very strong start, beginning the game on an 8-0 run. Preseason ASUN Player of the Year Ahsan Asadullah made his presence known early as he scored 4 points before the first media timeout. Liberty point guard Chris Parker picked up his 2nd foul early in the game and was forced to the bench for the remainder of the half. The Flames would make only 3 of its next 18 shots after Parker picked up his 2nd foul.
The strong play from the Bisons would continue as they pushed the lead to as high as 24 at 39-15 with 4:29 to play thanks to a 17-3 run that spanned more than 7 minutes. The Flames would find their legs and made a strong push in the closing minutes, cutting the deficit to 39-25 at the break. Liberty utilized a 10-0 in just 61 seconds, capped by a 6 point possession. Asadullah was called for a technical foul, his 2nd personal, McGhee would make both free throws and then Keegan McDowell would bury a three pointer and made the free throw after getting foul.
Asadullah finished the first half with 15 points on 7 of 8 field goal shooting as Liberty’s interior of Blake Preston, Shiloh Robinson, and Micaiah Abii did not provide much resistance. In the opening 20 minutes, the Bisons shot 56% from the field and made 4 of 9 three point attempts while outscoring the Flames 27-12 in the paint. The Flames shot just 31% from the field in the opening half, making just 4 of 15 three point attempts. No Liberty player scored more than 5 points in the opening half.
The Flames would continue their strong play out of the locker room, scoring 6 straight points to open the second half, cutting the Bisons lead to 7. Keegan McDowell added a three pointer with about 16 minutes left in the game as Liberty cut the deficit to 4 at 46-42, the closest the Flames had been since it was 11-7. A Darius McGhee triple would cut it to 3 a minute later, at 48-45, but that would be as close as Liberty would get.
Again it was Asadullah who was too much for the Flames to handle in the paint, as he had consecutive buckets to push the lead to 9 at the under 8 media timeout of the 2nd half. Liberty went on a cold spell, making just 2 of 11 field goals and going scoreless for over 3 minutes as Lipscomb held on. The 24 point deficit was just too much for the Flames to overcome.
Asadullah led all scorers with 24 points while making 11 of his 14 field goals to go along with 5 rebounds and 2 assists. KJ Johnson added 17 points.
Liberty was paced by four double figure scorers, led by Darius McGhee’s 16 points on 6 of 15 shooting and 2 of 9 from 3. Chris Parker and Blake Preston each had 12 points, and Preston added 11 rebounds to record the double-double. Elijah Cuffee chipped in 10.
Both teams get back at it in Nashville from Allen Arena on Saturday afternoon at 5 p.m. Eastern in a game that will also be televised on ESPN+.
