Liberty (7-3) fell to Grand Canyon (8-1), 69-64, in front of 4,052 fans at Liberty Arena which sets an Arena record for most fans in a single game.
“We missed three straight free throws, that’s uncharacteristic of our guys,” said Liberty head coach Ritchie McKay. “We went 6 for 25 (from 3), not to take anything away from Grand Canyon because they had a lot to do with it. They are a hard guard. You expend so much energy on the defensive end trying to guard their bounce and their individual playmakers and then their physicality, the way they rebound.”
The Flames jumped out to a 23-6 lead, dominating the Antelopes on both ends of the floor. GCU went over five minutes without a point to help Liberty build its lead. Things shifted though midway through the first half. The Flames went 6:49 of game action without a point and 9:08 without a made field goal. The Lopes went on a 15-0 run and would tie the game at 26 with just over three minutes left in the first. GCU would take their first lead momentarily before a Kaden Metheny buzzer beater tied the game at 32 entering the halftime break.
A 14-2 Liberty run was answered by a 9-0 Grand Canyon as the teams continued to go back and forth down the stretch. The Antelopes would take the lead, pushing it to seven with 2:33 left. The Flames responded with six straight, but were unable to get over the hump.
The Flames were just 4 of 9 from the charity stripe in the second half and only 6 of 25 from three (24%) for the contest. Kaden Metheny led the team in scoring with 14 points while Colin Porter added 12, Zach Cleveland chipped in 11, and Kyle Rode finished with 10.
The Flames return to action on Wednesday at Liberty Arena against Tennessee State. The Tigers are currently 6-3 on the season and play at Lipscomb on Sunday before making the trek to Lynchburg.
GREAT ENVIRONMENT FOR BASKETBALL GAME
It was a great environment for a basketball game, especially for a non-conference tilt in mid-December. Shout out to Grand Canyon and their administration for footing the bill to send a plane of about 180 fans from Arizona. Still, the Liberty crowd drowned them out for the most part. The sellout crowd set a new Arena record for the venue which opened during the 2020-21 COVID affected year.
Liberty’s loss ended a 20-game home win streak, last losing against Southern Miss on Nov. 18, 2022. The Flames are now 48-5 all-time at Liberty Arena.
thankful for our fans and the way they had our arena rocking that was a great atmosphere fun college basketball game to be apart of not so much to be on the wrong side of the scoreboard but i know our guys were thankful and blessed to have an opportunity to play such a quality opponent in the arena we havent had a lot of cracks at that
GAME OF RUNS
It was a game of runs between the Flames and Lopes. Liberty had a 13-0 run in the early part of the first half, followed by a 15-0 GCU run bring them back into it. The Flames opened the second half on a 14-2 run to seize control as we entered the stretch run.
Liberty led by as many as nine points in the second half. The Antelopes would respond though as they went on a 9-0 spurt to take a 51-50 lead at the under eight media timeout of the second half. With the game tied at 53, GCU went on an 8-2 run to lead, 61-55, with three minutes remaining. The Flames answered with a 6-0 spurt and cut the lead to 1, but it wasn’t enough to get over the hump.
“It’s a game of runs,” said McKay. “They just beat San Diego State. They are a good team. They have some pros, but we have a good team too. Every game we play in there has been some kind of run.”
GCU PULLS OUT TIGHT CONTEST
It was a close, back and forth contest where Liberty was unable to pull out the win. It could have gone either way, but the visitors were able to pick up the win on Saturday afternoon. Shooting just 6 of 25 from three for the game and going 4 of 9 from the free throw line in the second half makes it incredibly difficult to pull out a win against a very good team.
The Antelopes led 62-55 with 2:33 to play. Behind a Colin Porter layup, two Zach Cleveland free throws, and Shiloh Robinson bucket cut the lead to just one with 1:18 to play. Liberty then got a defensive stop as Shiloh Robinson drew a charge. Porter then missed a mid-range jumper that would have given Liberty the lead.
The Antelopes then made two free throws to go up by three. Porter then got fouled, made his first free throw, and missed his second. Joseph Venzant got the rebound though, put up an uncontested layup but couldn’t get the roll. Shiloh even had a chance at a putback before the ball went out of bounds off the Liberty senior forward.
“This is game 10, there is still a lot of season left for us and an opportunity to improve,” McKay said. “This non-conference schedule will definitely have us prepared for Conference USA.”
