2-seed Liberty (26-7, 15-3) was able to overcome a slow start and 13-point deficit to defeat 3-seed Eastern Kentucky (20-13, 12-6), 79-73, on Thursday night. With the win, the Flames advance to Sunday’s ASUN Tournament Championship Game.

“Incredibly impressed with Eastern Kentucky and A.W. and his staff, their players,” said Liberty head coach Ritchie McKay. “Man, that’s a really, really good team and a really good program. To be able to advance, we earned it because they kept pushing, they kept coming. I was really pleased with our guys response. I say it all the time, but I think the crowd is worth 5-7 points on a nightly basis when it is like that. That was a tremendous atmosphere, Flames Nation should celebrate the assist that they had in the win.”

Eastern Kentucky went on a 12-0 run in the first half to take a 23-11 lead as the Flames were scoreless for nearly five minutes. Liberty would mount the comeback and outlast the Colonels in the closing minutes of the game to pick up the win and preserve their home floor.

Darius McGhee led the team with 29 points on 8 of 21 shooting and 5 of 14 from the field. He also had 6 rebounds and 4 assists. Colin Porter had a career high 25 points as he made 10 of 16 from the field and 5 of 9 from three to go along with 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals and 0 turnovers.

Liberty will now play Sunday afternoon against Kennesaw State in the ASUN Tournament Championship Game. The Flames against the Owls in a rematch from just a couple weeks ago as the two teams who shared the regular season title will decide who goes to the NCAA Tournament.

COLIN PORTER CARRIES FLAMES TO WIN

What a game from Colin Porter. The true freshman point guard has been good for the Flames all season, but he had a career night on a big stage when his team needed him the most. He finished with a career high 25 points and impressively did not have a turnover in 34 minutes played against a team that plays full court pressure most of the game. By going over 20 points, Porter becomes the first Liberty freshman since Caleb Homesley did on Feb. 27, 2016 to score 20 or more in a game.

“He stuck his shots,” said Eastern Kentucky head coach A.W. Hamilton on Porter. “He’s a really good player. I thought he was tremendous offensively. He didn’t force the issue. He took his open shots. He put us in jail when we were in drop coverage. He really put a lot of pressure on our defense. He played extremely well.”

LIBERTY OVERCOMES 13 POINT DEFICIT

The Flames fell behind by 13 in the first half but were able to overcome that deficit to pick up the win. Trailing by two at the half, this game marked only the third time Liberty has trailed at halftime in an ASUN Tournament game. The previous occasions happened in 2020 against Stetson in the semifinals and last year in the quarterfinals against Lipscomb. The Flames are now 3-0 in those games and 12-1 all-time in ASUN Tournament games.

The game was reminiscent of the 2018 Big South Tournament semifinals at UNC Asheville. The Flames fell behind in that game by 15 at 41-26 before coming back to win the game 69-64 against the Big South’s #1 seed.

“I wrote on the board, 52-26, referencing the Southern Miss game when we got down 26 points and we were only down half as much,” said McKay. “I feel like we’ve been battle tested in our non-conference schedule and a really good ASUN season and played in some games that had it where you just had to outlast the opponent. I felt like that prepared us the right way and our guys had a really good response.”

5TH CONFERENCE TITLE GAME IN 6 YEARS

Liberty now advances to its fifth conference title game in six years. Truly an impressive run for Coach McKay and this program. The Flames made it to the 2018 Big South Tournament championship game, falling to Radford on Carlik Jones’ buzzer beating three pointer.  Liberty then advanced to three straight ASUN title games before missing the final a year ago. The Flames will be playing in their final ASUN game and looking for a fourth title in five seasons to close out their stay in the league before moving to Conference USA.

“I don’t think people know how hard it is, I really don’t,” McKay said of making five championship game in six years. “Especially when you have an expectation or you get preseason this or that, but there’s a room full of guys out there that really have a commitment to trying to get better every day and stay in the lane of consistency and not get too distracted by the expectations or the opinions. They’ve been really process-oriented. To be able to be in five is great, I’d like to win another win.”

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