Liberty falls to Winthrop, 84-67. Here’s our rapid reactions:
- The Eagles jumped out to an early lead at 14-2 just over 5 minutes into the game. That opening spurt was too much for the Flames to overcome. Liberty played Winthrop fairly even the rest of the game, even outscoring the Eagles 30-29 in the final 14:37 of the first half. That’s why the say you have to play a full 40 minutes.
- I thought about it when Caleb Homesley got hurt, but his loss becomes almost too much for the Flames to overcome against a team like Winthrop. They just have too much length, athleticism, and depth while Liberty is lacking another playmaker. Remember, this Liberty team is made up of primarily freshmen and sophomores, it’s a process.
- Georgie Pacheco-Ortiz led the team with 15 points while knocking down 4 of 7 3 pointers. Georgie added 6 rebounds.
- Ryan Kemrite had 14 points while shooting 3 of 7 from 3. Lovell Cabbil was the 3rd Flame in double figures, finishing with 10 points on just 3 field goal attempts. Cabbil was a perfect 6/6 from the charity stripe.
- One of the few bright spots for Liberty was their 3-point shooting. The Flames connected on 11-of-24 3s, good for 46%.
- The loss ends Liberty’s 7 game win streak overall and 7 game road winning streak.
- The Flames and Eagles are now tied for 2nd place in the Big South at 13-3 with 2 games left to play in the regular season. Due to Winthrop’s 2 wins over Liberty this season, they own the head-to-head tiebreaker if the teams end the season tied.
- Both Winthrop and the Flames are just 1 game behind Big South leader UNC Asheville who is 14-2 after their win over Campbell today.
- Liberty hosts Longwood on Thursday evening for Senior night before the season finale next Saturday at Asheville.
