Liberty fell to Winthrop, 61-48. Here’s our rapid reactions:

  1. Well, it was a pretty good crowd with an announced attendance of 4,158. Hopefully the fans will come back out to support the team the rest of the year.
  2. Both teams struggled shooting in the first half, but the Flames struggled throughout. Liberty shot just 19% from the field in the first half compared to Winthrop’s 29%. The Flames finished the game 33% from the field and 3/24 from 3. LU also struggled from the free throw line, connecting on only 11 of 19 foul shots. Just a tough night shooting all together for Liberty.
  3. This game featured the top scoring offense in the Big South (Winthrop) against the top scoring defense in the conference (Liberty). The pace of play certainly favored Liberty. The teams combined to score just 41 points in the first half with the Flames scoring a season low 15 points in the opening period.
  4. The Flames were plagued by foul trouble in the first half as different players had picked up 2 personals in the first 20 minutes of play. Lovell Cabbil, Myo Baxter-Bell, Brock Gardner, Ezra Talbert, Georgie Pacheco-Ortiz, and John Dawson all had 2 fouls. It forced McKay to go deeper into his bench than he’s been doing during conference play. It helped Winthrop stretch its lead to as much as 13 points during the opening period. Myo picked up his 4th foul at the 11:47 mark of the 2nd half.
  5. John Dawson had a career-high with 12 rebounds, his previous career high was 10. He did struggle from the field, failing to make a field goal on his 8 attempts. Ryan Kemrite led the team with 15 points while Lovell Cabbil added 11.
  6. Winthrop dominated Liberty in bench points, being outscored 37-10.
  7. The Eagles’ length inside really caused problems for Liberty. On several occasions a Flames player would get into the paint only to be met there by Xavier Cooks, Duby Okeke, or another Winthrop big. The Eagles’ finished the night with 6 blocks.
  8. Winthrop improves to 39-16 all-time against Liberty. The Eagles have also won 10 of the past 11 and 19 of the last 22.
  9. With the loss the Flames fall to 6-2 in Big South play and are tied for 2nd place with UNC Asheville. The Eagles move to 7-1 and are now alone in first place.
  10. The Flames return to action on Thursday night against Longwood in Farmville.

Notable quotes

Myo Baxter-Bell – “We just couldn’t find our rhythm. We had some lapses on offense. We hoped our defense could carry us, but we couldn’t get started on offense. We fell into a little slump.”

Ryan Kemrite – “There were shots that we usually hit that weren’t going in. We’ve got a good shooting team, a good scoring team. We’ve proven we have multiple guys who can do that, but it just didn’t go in tonight. We played great defense, but we got to play great on both ends if we want to be first in the conference.”

Coach McKay – “I can’t give any excuses other than we lost to a really good team. Winthrop had a lot to do with our offensive woes. I do think we got some good looks, our guys are confident shooters, capable shooters, I think we’ve proven that. Tonight certainly wasn’t our night, but I don’t want to take anything away from them. They were really good on both ends of the floor.”

Coach McKay – “I thought we were a little anxious tonight. We had a nice crowd, really pleased, especially with our student body, with everyone in the community that came out. I think we wanted so badly to give them an experience that we got a little rushed and they took full advantage.”