Tuesday, March 3
Lynchburg, Va.
7:00 PM
Liberty University
22-10
88
vs
77
No. 6 Gardner-Webb - BSC Quarterfinals
13-17
| Team | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
| #6 Gardner-Webb | 32 | 45 | 77 |
| Liberty | 47 | 41 | 88 |
Flames Top Gardner-Webb in Quarterfinals
3/3/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Seth Curry poured in 30 points in the quarterfinals of the 2009 Advance Auto Parts Men's Basketball Championship, Tuesday night, as the No. 3 seed Liberty Flames (22-10) topped the No. 6 seed Gardner-Webb Bulldogs (13-17), inside the Vines Center, 88-77. With the victory, Liberty advances to the semifinals for the second consecutive season and will play No. 2 VMI, Thursday night, at 6 p.m., live on ESPNU, at Radford's Dedmon Center.
The game saw no scoring for the first 2:23, but once an Austin Smith layup dropped through the cylinder at 17:37 giving Liberty the first lead, 2-0, the Flames quickly mounted a 16-4 advantage. Curry tallied seven points during the opening run, including the spurt capper at 14:10.
C.J. Hailey broke things up with a jumper at 13:48, cutting Gardner-Webb's deficit to 12 points, 16-4. Kyle Ohman answered for the Flames, dropping back-to-back-to-back three-point buckets, with the final trey coming at 11:20, extending Liberty's advantage to 19 points, 25-6.
An Anthony Smith bucket at 5:53 pushed the Flames lead to 24 points, 39-15, the largest of the opening stanza and the game for Liberty. Gardner-Webb mounted a comeback in the first half's final five minutes, closing the gap to 15 points going into intermission, 47-32. Behind two three-point buckets by Jonathan Moore and a run-capping trey by Grayson Flittner, the Bulldogs finished the half on a 17-8 burst.
Liberty was efficient from the floor, hitting 58.1 percent (18-of-31) from the field during the opening 20 minutes, including 53.8 percent (7-of-13) from three-point land.
A solid defensive effort from the Flames held Gardner-Webb to a 32.3 percent (10-of-31) clip from the floor in the opening stanza, including 36.4 percent (4-of-11) from beyond the arc.
The Flames came out of the break and quickly pushed their lead back up to 20 markers, 53-33. Curry hit a jumper from the corner as the clock expired, starting the second half scoring. Tyler Baker put two more points on the board and Anthony Smith capped the run with a dunk at 18:14.
But, Liberty would not score for the next 6:04, as Gardner Webb tallied seven straight points, cutting its deficit to 13 points, 53-40. Buckets by Hailey and Joshua Henley set up Anton Silver's trey at 12:33. Silver's bucket finished off the Bulldogs' run.
After a Curry runner at 12:10, Gardner-Webb tallied six straight points, cutting its deficit below double figures at nine, 55-46. Henley capped the spurt at 10:46. A Hailey three-point bucket at 7:57 brought the game to within seven points, 60-53.
Curry and Anthony Smith hit back-to-back buckets setting the stage for Anthony's trey at 5:51, extending the lead up to 14 points, 67-53. Gardner-Webb than made it a sprint, cutting Liberty's lead down to four points, 69-65. Aaron Linn sank two free throws at 2:56, finishing off the 12-2 run. Flittner scored six straight points during the burst, setting up Linn's trip to the charity stripe.
Linn inched Gardner-Webb closer, 73-70, after two more free throws at 1:31, this two shot foul coming at the hands of Ohman's fourth personal infraction on the evening. However, that would be as close as Gardner-Webb would get, as the Flames were able to close out the game at the free throw line.
Liberty finished out the game going 15-of-16 from the free throw line in the game's final 1:31, helping secure the 11 point victory, 88-77.
The Flames connected on 49.2 percent (29-of-59) of its shots from the floor, including 39.1 percent (9-of-23) from three-point range.
Curry tallied a game-high 30 markers, his fourth time this season to reach the 30-point mark, while chipping in six assists and pulling down four rebounds. Ohman added 18 points on 4-of-8 three-point shooting, while pulling down nine caroms. Anthony Smith added 16 points and six rebounds. Tyler Baker tied a career high with 14 points, pulled down six rebounds and was a perfect 6-of-6 from the free throw line, including hitting four in the final minute.
Gardner-Webb, who finished the year with a 13-17 record, was able shave a 24-point deficit to three in the waning minutes of the game, thanks to a 50.0 percent effort from the field during the second half (16-of-32). The near 20 percent improvement in the second half enabled the visitors to finish the game shooting 41.3 percent from the field (26-of-63), while connecting on 9-of-26 from long range (34.6 percent).
Moore paced the Bulldogs with 20 markers on 7-of-11 shooting. Henley added 13 points and seven rebounds before fouling out in the game's final minutes. Flittner added12 points in the losing effort.
Post-Game Quotes
Liberty Head Coach Ritchie McKay
"Our guys did a great job at the start of the game. We got off to a tremendous start offensively and played very unselfishly. Gardner-Webb is a really great team, and we have a ton of respect for them. However, our early success gave us a ton of confidence for the rest of the game."
Gardner-Webb Head Coach Rick Scruggs
"Give Liberty credit. They jumped out on top early. We dug ourselves a hole and couldn't quite climb out of it. We had our chances to come back in the second half, but could not get over the hump. I'm proud of the way we came back, but Liberty played extremely well. I think they'll give teams a lot of trouble in this tournament."
The game saw no scoring for the first 2:23, but once an Austin Smith layup dropped through the cylinder at 17:37 giving Liberty the first lead, 2-0, the Flames quickly mounted a 16-4 advantage. Curry tallied seven points during the opening run, including the spurt capper at 14:10.
C.J. Hailey broke things up with a jumper at 13:48, cutting Gardner-Webb's deficit to 12 points, 16-4. Kyle Ohman answered for the Flames, dropping back-to-back-to-back three-point buckets, with the final trey coming at 11:20, extending Liberty's advantage to 19 points, 25-6.
An Anthony Smith bucket at 5:53 pushed the Flames lead to 24 points, 39-15, the largest of the opening stanza and the game for Liberty. Gardner-Webb mounted a comeback in the first half's final five minutes, closing the gap to 15 points going into intermission, 47-32. Behind two three-point buckets by Jonathan Moore and a run-capping trey by Grayson Flittner, the Bulldogs finished the half on a 17-8 burst.
Liberty was efficient from the floor, hitting 58.1 percent (18-of-31) from the field during the opening 20 minutes, including 53.8 percent (7-of-13) from three-point land.
A solid defensive effort from the Flames held Gardner-Webb to a 32.3 percent (10-of-31) clip from the floor in the opening stanza, including 36.4 percent (4-of-11) from beyond the arc.
The Flames came out of the break and quickly pushed their lead back up to 20 markers, 53-33. Curry hit a jumper from the corner as the clock expired, starting the second half scoring. Tyler Baker put two more points on the board and Anthony Smith capped the run with a dunk at 18:14.
But, Liberty would not score for the next 6:04, as Gardner Webb tallied seven straight points, cutting its deficit to 13 points, 53-40. Buckets by Hailey and Joshua Henley set up Anton Silver's trey at 12:33. Silver's bucket finished off the Bulldogs' run.
After a Curry runner at 12:10, Gardner-Webb tallied six straight points, cutting its deficit below double figures at nine, 55-46. Henley capped the spurt at 10:46. A Hailey three-point bucket at 7:57 brought the game to within seven points, 60-53.
Curry and Anthony Smith hit back-to-back buckets setting the stage for Anthony's trey at 5:51, extending the lead up to 14 points, 67-53. Gardner-Webb than made it a sprint, cutting Liberty's lead down to four points, 69-65. Aaron Linn sank two free throws at 2:56, finishing off the 12-2 run. Flittner scored six straight points during the burst, setting up Linn's trip to the charity stripe.
Linn inched Gardner-Webb closer, 73-70, after two more free throws at 1:31, this two shot foul coming at the hands of Ohman's fourth personal infraction on the evening. However, that would be as close as Gardner-Webb would get, as the Flames were able to close out the game at the free throw line.
Liberty finished out the game going 15-of-16 from the free throw line in the game's final 1:31, helping secure the 11 point victory, 88-77.
The Flames connected on 49.2 percent (29-of-59) of its shots from the floor, including 39.1 percent (9-of-23) from three-point range.
Curry tallied a game-high 30 markers, his fourth time this season to reach the 30-point mark, while chipping in six assists and pulling down four rebounds. Ohman added 18 points on 4-of-8 three-point shooting, while pulling down nine caroms. Anthony Smith added 16 points and six rebounds. Tyler Baker tied a career high with 14 points, pulled down six rebounds and was a perfect 6-of-6 from the free throw line, including hitting four in the final minute.
Gardner-Webb, who finished the year with a 13-17 record, was able shave a 24-point deficit to three in the waning minutes of the game, thanks to a 50.0 percent effort from the field during the second half (16-of-32). The near 20 percent improvement in the second half enabled the visitors to finish the game shooting 41.3 percent from the field (26-of-63), while connecting on 9-of-26 from long range (34.6 percent).
Moore paced the Bulldogs with 20 markers on 7-of-11 shooting. Henley added 13 points and seven rebounds before fouling out in the game's final minutes. Flittner added12 points in the losing effort.
Post-Game Quotes
Liberty Head Coach Ritchie McKay
"Our guys did a great job at the start of the game. We got off to a tremendous start offensively and played very unselfishly. Gardner-Webb is a really great team, and we have a ton of respect for them. However, our early success gave us a ton of confidence for the rest of the game."
Gardner-Webb Head Coach Rick Scruggs
"Give Liberty credit. They jumped out on top early. We dug ourselves a hole and couldn't quite climb out of it. We had our chances to come back in the second half, but could not get over the hump. I'm proud of the way we came back, but Liberty played extremely well. I think they'll give teams a lot of trouble in this tournament."
Team Stats
#6GWU
LU
FG%
.413
.492
3FG%
.346
.391
FT%
.696
.840
RB
36
36
TO
17
16
STL
11
4
Game Leaders
Pts
30
FGM
9
3FGM
3
FTM
9
Pts
18
FGM
5
3FGM
4
FTM
4
Pts
16
FGM
6
3FGM
2
FTM
2
Pts
14
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
6
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