Liberty is finally able to pick up its first D1 win of the season as they snatched victory from the jaws of defeat over Western Carolina 63-62. What we learned:

Liberty wins in a fashion eerily similar to the famed Chris Webber timeout call
  • The Flames can beat a Division I opponent! We all knew they could, but until it actually happened there was that little bit of doubt in the back of everyone’s mind.
  • The frontline rotation of Gielo, Coronado, and VanderPol continues to pay off large contributions. These 3 combined for 26 points and 20 rebounds.
  • 24 Liberty turnovers were not enough for the Catamounts to win.
  • Liberty had 3 players in double figures: Tavares Speaks (13), Tomasz Gielo (10), and Davon Marshall (10).
  • It looks like Layer has finally settled on an 8 man rotation of Marshall, Sanders, Roberts, Gielo, Coronado, Speaks, VanderPol, and Donley.
  • Sommy Oguwke returned to action after missing the Union game with a concussion. Ogukwe only played 2 minutes.

Here’s a quick play by play breakdown of an amazing finish:

  • Western Carolina led 62-58 with 10 seconds left after a Trey Sumler 3 point play.
  • John Caleb Sanders got a quick layup in transition and got fouled. He made the free throw to make it 62-61 WCU with 5 seconds left.
  • The Catamounts were attempting to get the ball in bounds, but could not and called a timeout to avoid a 5 second call.
  • WCU had no timeouts remaining at the time, and therefore was called for a technical.
  • Tavares Speaks knocked down both technical free throws to give Liberty the 63-62 victory.

Liberty now heads into conference play with a 3 game win streak and hopefully some positive momentum. The Flames host 2 time defending Big South Champions UNC Asheville on January 5. Tip is at 6pm.