Liberty University
12-17, 9-7BSC
Presbyterian
9-18, 4-12BSC
Presbyterian Upsets Liberty, Saturday Night
2/20/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Looking to rebound after a narrow defeat to Radford on Thursday, the Liberty men's basketball team welcomed Presbyterian into the Vines Center, Saturday night. Led by a career-high 28 points from sophomore forward DeSean Murray, the Blue Hose ended their eight-game skid, defeating the Flames, 79-73.
With the defeat, Liberty falls to 12-17 overall and 9-7 in Big South play. PC moves 9-18 on the year and 4-12 in conference action.
A.C. Reid paced Liberty with 18 points, followed by Ryan Kemrite (15), Evan Maxwell (11) and Caleb Homesley (10).
Along with Murray's 28-point performance, Ed Drew (14) and Will Adams (10) rounded out Liberty's double-digit scorers.
PC shot 49.1 percent (26-of-53) from the field, while Liberty went 24-of-51 (47.1 percent). Despite the Flames hitting more three-pointers than the Blue Hose (13-5), PC capitalized at the foul line, outscoring Liberty at the charity stripe, 22-12. The Blue Hose also held a slight 26-22 edge in the paint.
Liberty took an early lead thanks to a pair of thunderous dunks from Maxwell. Murray put PC on the board with a tip-in. After a Maxwell free throw and a jumper by Will Adams, a John Dawson three-pointer put the Flames ahead, 8-4, at 15:01.
Liberty led by as much as five in the half after a Kemrite three-pointer made it 16-11 with nine minutes left in the period. Presbyterian gained the advantage 2:13 later thanks to an Ed Drew basket. Following a tip-in from Drew, Kemrite nailed another three-pointer at 5:49 to knot the contest at 21.
The Flames regained the lead with a Reid layup. Ruben Arroyo quickly answered on the other end with a three-pointer to turn the tide once again at 4:44. PC outscored Liberty, 14-9, in the remaining minutes to widen the gap before the end of the period. The Blue Hose closed out the half with baskets by Murray and Dillard to carry a 38-29 lead into the locker room at halftime.
Presbyterian closed out the half shooting 53.6 percent (15-of-28), compared to 42.3 percent for the Flames (11-of-26).
Murray led all scorers at the half with 11 points. Kemrite and Maxwell each had nine tallies for Liberty, followed by Reid with eight.
In the second period, Liberty quickly closed the gap with a 9-2 run highlighted by a dunk and a three-pointer from Caleb Homesley. Lovell Cabbil and Maxwell tacked on two more baskets to pull the Flames within two, 40-38, at 17:38.
With Liberty still within two after a Homesley three-point play at 16:51, the Blue Hose proceeded to go on a 7-0 run. Adams kick started the burst with a trey. Janeil Jenkins followed up with two free throws and Murray cemented the surge with a layup to make it 50-41 at 15:19.
Liberty chipped away at the deficit again thanks in part to quality scoring plays from Kemrite. Cabbil later tied the ball game (56-56) with a three-pointer at 7:49. Unfortunately for the Flames, they were unable to garner another field goal for nearly seven minutes, allowing the Blue Hose to pull away for good. Hansel Atencia nailed a three-ball with 47 seconds left to cut a 10-point deficit to seven. Reid connected on two more three-pointers down the stretch, but PC continued to sink shots at the foul line, keeping Liberty at bay en route to the 79-73 final.
The Flames head to Asheville, N.C., to take on UNC Asheville on Thursday. The Bulldogs are in second place in the Big South standings after falling to Winthrop, 81-80, earlier in the afternoon. Tipoff for Thursday's contest is slated for 7 p.m.
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