Liberty (19-9, 10-3) was able to out last Stetson (11-16, 5-9) on Saturday night, 88-82, to get back in the win column after a two-game skid. The Flames were paced by Darius McGhee who scored 39 points to go along with 9 rebounds, and 6 assists.
“Hats off to our crowd,” said Liberty head coach Ritchie McKay following the win. “Place got loud at the end. Stetson, I thought, played a terrific game. Two really good guards in Chase (Johnston) and Christiaan (Jones). They played terrific. I know a lot of people will worry about the stats. We have some concerns that we need to improve upon, but happy with the outcome and the way our guys finished.”
The Flames led by 12 points with 3:49 left in the game, and it looked like it was going to be an easy win. Stetson wouldn’t have that, as the Hatters went on a 13-0 run to take the lead at 80-79 with 1:26 to play. McGhee would respond with five unanswered points, capped by a contested three pointer with 42 seconds to play to help provide the necessary margin.
“I thought Flames Nation was great,” McKay said of the crowd late in the game. “It was nice to wear the lighter colored uniforms. We have a good team. When our crowd is that involved, we’re better. I thought Flames Nation was tremendous tonight, give them an assist.”
Liberty hits the road for its final away game of the regular season as the Flames take on Central Arkansas on Monday night. Tip off is scheduled for 8 p.m. on ESPN+. The Bears are currently 8-17 overall and 5-7 in the ASUN entering their game Saturday night against Eastern Kentucky.
Here are our three main takeaways from today’s game:
FLAMES BOUNCE-BACK AFTER 2 LOSSES
Tonight’s game for Liberty was as close to a must-win as you could get when it comes to home court throughout the ASUN Tournament. Coming off consecutive losses at Jacksonville and North Florida, the Flames needed to get back into the win column. Regardless of how the win happened, Liberty got the job done and can move on into the final week of the regular season.
MCGHEE SETS LIBERTY ARENA RECORD FOR POINTS
McGhee’s 39 points set a Liberty Arena record for points scored in a single game. The previous record was set by Kennesaw State’s Spencer Rodgers who scored 31 on Jan. 8, 2021. McGhee was nearly outpaced by Stetson’s Chase Johnston who scored 38 points. The hot shooting guards went back and forth down the stretch, exchanging blow for blow.
Johnston finished the game with 38 points as he made 10 of 23 from the field and 8 of 17 from three. He also had 7 rebounds and 2 assists. McGhee’s 39 points came on 12 of 22 from the floor and 7 of 14 from three. He added 9 rebounds and 6 assists.
“When they lost Rob Perry, (Johnston’s) been green-lighted,” said McKay. “He can really shoot it. He’s a good player, got to the line 10 times. I’ll take Darius McGhee over anybody. I think Donnie Jones does a terrific job. Stetson’s capable. They were beating Gulf Coast. Gulf Coast were down by nine with less than a minute. We knew it would be hard fought. We’ve got to do a better job executing defensively, but Darius is a high level player. I think people are excited to play against him because he’s gotten so much notoriety.”
LIBERTY NEARLY LOSES LATE LEAD
The Flames pushed the lead to 12 on a Darius McGhee three-pointer with 15:23 to play in the second half. The margin would stay at 9 points or more for most of the second half. The Hatters would not get closer than that until less than four minutes to play. Stetson would go on a 13-0 run to take the lead late, and many Liberty fans had flashbacks to the previous two games where the Flames lost a second half lead, falling to Jacksonville and North Florida.
Things would end differently though on Saturday night, as Liberty closed the game on a 9-2 run in the final 90 seconds to secure the win.
“I think our guys are confident,” said McKay. “We lost to Jacksonville and North Florida. Those were our first and second losses in 20 days. We just didn’t finish the way that we are used to finishing. I think our group is confident. Going forward, I think it’s going to be hard. It’s a conference tournament race. The misnomer is that we’re just going to dominate the ASUN because we’ve done it in the past. There’s some good teams, some really good coaches, we’ve got to keep improving.”
