Liberty (22-10, 12-4) was tested into the closing minutes on Thursday night against Lipscomb (14-19, 6-10), but were able to pick up the win, 52-47, in the ASUN Tournament Quarterfinals.
“Whew, it is tournament time,” said Liberty head coach Ritchie McKay after the game. “That was really hard fought. I have a lot of respect for Coach Acuff and their program. They do it the right way. They had a great scheme and game plan. I don’t care how old you are, how many games you’ve been in in tournament play, the first one is always really hard because you realize the significance of it. I was proud of our group. We didn’t play as efficiently as we had been on the offensive end, but we found a way to pull one out.”
Liberty shot just 29.8% from the field and made only 6 of 32 (18.8%) from three during the game, but the Flames were able to overcome the shooting woes and pick up the win. Lipscomb grabbed the lead late in the first half and was able to maintain it throughout much of the second half until the Flames clamped down in the closing minutes to preserve the win.
With the win, the Flames advance to the ASUN Semifinals where they will face Bellarmine. The game is scheduled for Saturday at 6 pm at Liberty Arena.
Here are our three main takeaways from today’s game:
FLAMES WIN IT IN THE CLOSING MINUTES
With just over 6 minutes left in the game, Liberty trailed by three. The weight of three-straight conference championships riding on their shoulders, but the Flames wouldn’t flinch. Liberty closed the game on a 12-4 run to pick up the team’s 10th straight ASUN Tournament win.
“This group is always emotionally ready,” said McKay. “They really have the right lens that they look from. They know their identity. It’s college basketball, sometimes shots don’t fall, but I think we have the maturity to rely on the other end of the floor when things aren’t going well. When we are clicking on both ends, we are a tough out.”
TRAE BENHAM PROVIDES PUNCH FOR BISONS
Lipscomb true freshman wing Trae Benham led the way for the Bisons with 21 points. He made 9 of 20 from the field and three of 10 from three, and he nearly willed them to victory.
“He’s really got a chance to be a good player,” said Lipscomb head coach Lennie Acuff of Benham. “In our society today, when kids don’t get what they want, they normally run for the hills. They try to blame somebody else. He was not playing at all when the conference started. He was not playing. He kept coming to practice every day and every day he’s playing well, he’s playing well. He’s getting there early and leaving late. He’s really moved the needle for us the last month. His dad went to high school here, played baseball here. I’m real happy for him. When we came up here a month ago, he tried real hard. He had a lot of people here, and he just kind of got outside his lane a bit. He was really, really good tonight.”
BLAKE PRESTON PROVIDES WINNING PLAYS
Liberty forward Blake Preston finished with a final stat line of 4 points and 9 rebounds as he was just 2 of 7 from the field, but he made winning plays down the stretch to help Liberty secure the victory. He stole the ball from Ahsan Asadullah with 2:13 left in the game with Liberty up just one. After a McGhee bucket, Preston secured an offensive rebounds with 1:09 to play that allowed the Flames to milk 19 more seconds off the clock.
“You wouldn’t know by Blake’s numbers how effective he was in terms of the outcome that we desire, but Blake is really physically and mentally tough,” said McKay. “I thought his individual performance on Ahsan was terrific.”
