Liberty turned in their best performance of the season Saturday night, and earned their first conference win of the year, besting Coastal Carolina 64-56. The win puts the Flames at 1-2 in Big South play, and could help create a road map for success in conference play. Here’s what we learned:
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| Speaks turned in an outstanding defensive performance in the win |
- Liberty finally put 40 minutes together, and it paid off.
- The Flames still need to play a low scoring game to win. However, they were able to control the pace of play with a solid defensive and rebounding performance. As several people have now pointed out, keeping the game in the 50’s and 60’s is key.
- Getting significant, quality minutes from JVP proves to be big for LU. He doesn’t put up huge numbers on the stat line, but when he is in the game the Flames’ defensive presence definitely improves.
- Tavaris Speaks played outstanding defense against Coastal’s top scorer Anthony Raffa. Raffa was held scoreless at the half, and only recorded 8 points on the night.
- If Gielo can get outside looks, he should keep shooting. He was obviously feeling it last night, and if his confidence keeps building he can be a key contributor down the stretch.
- Liberty found balanced scoring, even with an off night from leading scorer Davon Marshall. The Flames put 3 players in double figures, including Gielo’s career high 19.
- This was the best effort of the season in almost every phase of the game. Shooting 47.6% from the field, allowing Coastal only 29.2%.
