Liberty (23-5, 11-4 CUSA) was able to hold on despite a furious run from Jacksonville State (19-10, 11-5 CUSA) to win, 59-55, in front of 3,716 fans at Liberty Arena. With the win, the Flames move into sole possession of first place atop the conference standings with just three games remaining in the regular season.
“Hard fought game,” said Liberty head coach Ritchie McKay following the win. “Flames Nation, if you were in the Arena and you were cheering for Liberty, thank you. You were worth the difference in the outcome. Really good atmosphere, really good college basketball game. I have a ton of respect for Jacksonville State. Ray Harper is a fabulous coach. They have really good players. They are never going to be out of it because they play hard. They have a technical equation that’s really difficult to solve, and then when you have Jaron Pierre, you are always in the game.”
It was all defense for the Flames in the first half, holding the Gamecocks to a season low in points for a half with 16. They scored five points in the opening 70 seconds of the game but were then held to just 11 points over the final 18:50 of the first half. JSU shot just 7 of 26 from the field for 26.9% in the opening 20 minutes, as they trailed 31-16, the largest halftime deficit for the Gamecocks this season.
Liberty led at halftime in the first meeting between these two a few weeks ago, 38-32. The Gamecocks utilized a 16-2 run early in the second half of that game to take the lead and control of the game.
Like that first meeting, Jax State wouldn’t go away easily in this first place battle on the Mountain. In the opening minutes of the second half, the Flames scored eight straight to push the lead to 21 and force JSU head coach Ray Harper to call a timeout with 16:08 remaining, as it looked like the game was slipping away from the visitors.
Out of the timeout, Jacksonville State went on a 9-0 spurt to quickly cut the deficit to 12. Liberty’s Jayvon Maughmer would quell the rally with a layup at the basket followed by a triple to push the lead to 15.
The Gamecocks came right back, scoring seven straight and cutting their deficit to single digits for the first time since the first half. Even after Liberty pushed the lead back to double figures with just three minutes remaining, Jax State would continue to carve into the lead in the waning minutes. They cut it to six with time ticking under two minutes when Owen Aquino got an offensive rebound and putback. JSU’s Jaron Pierre answered nine seconds later with a three pointer to cut it to five. The lead would then get to three with 24 seconds remaining before Maughmer hit his first free throw attempt to push the lead four with 10 seconds left.
Maughmer’s play was key to the Flames success. He reached double figures with 12 points on 5 of 8 shooting to go along with four rebounds and 3 steals. His late free throw was clutch and sealed the win, but it was his play on the defensive end of the floor that would be decisive tonight, as he continues to grow into the role as the team’s shutdown defender. He held Jaron Pierre, Jr. to 13 points. Just a few weeks ago, Maughmer held Pierre to nine points, his only game this season where he didn’t reach double figures as Pierre entered Thursday night second in the country in scoring. Aided primarily by Maughmer’s defense, Pierre made just 4 of 22 field goals and 3 of 13 from three. In two games played against Maughmer and the Flames this season, Pierre is shooting 7 of 35 from the field and 4 of 15 from three.
“He’s a complete player,” McKay said of Maughmer. “For what he doesn’t give us from the standpoint of what he did at Cedarville, he’s even better defensively at this level. Because he has so many other pieces around him, I don’t think he’s as aggressive of an offensive player, therefore he doesn’t get as many attempts and doesn’t see it go in, so his scoring average is down from what it was in Division II, but not his impact.”
After failing to make a field goal and only scoring one point against Jacksonville State in Alabama, Kaden Metheny led the Flames in scoring with 13 points. Zach Cleveland also reached double figures with 10 points to go along with his 9 rebounds and 4 assists. Colin Porter added 9 points and 5 assists while Aquino had 8 points and 6 rebounds.
Liberty held the Gamecocks to 36.8% shooting from the field and their 55 points scored was the second lowest scoring output of the season. The Flames, meanwhile, struggled from three on the night, making just 7 of 24 and finished the game 10 of 17 from the free throw line.
The Flames will play again on Sunday afternoon taking on Kennesaw State on Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. to conclude the home portion of the regular season. The Owls are coming off a 76-61 loss at FIU on Thursday night to fall to 16-13 on the season and 8-8 in conference play.
“It doesn’t mean anything yet,” McKay said of being in first place currently. “I’m pleased that we won. We know what’s ahead of us. We have Kennesaw on Sunday, really well coached. In this league, anyone can beat anyone. There is work to do for us. We have got to keep getting better, but I am pleased with the growth (of this team).”
