Liberty falls to Radford, 69-67. Here’s our rapid reactions and audio from McKay:

  1. It was a tight game, decided as the final horn sounded, as most Big South games have been this season.
  2. The loss ends the Flames’ 7 game win streak. Liberty is now 9-6 in Big South play and currently in 5th place in the conference standings.
  3. Liberty led, 65-59, with 2:39 left. The Highlanders ended the game on a 10-2 run.
  4. Radford’s Cameron Jones scored 6 straight points to tie the game at 65 with 90 seconds remaining. John Dawson followed with a layup to give Liberty the lead with 1:10 left, but Radford answered just 15 seconds later to tie the game at 67. After a Ryan Kemrite missed 3-pointer, Radford called a timeout with 17 seconds left. Rashun Davis hit what would be the game winner with 5 seconds left.
  5. After a timeout, Liberty quickly in-bounded the ball and John Dawson got across half court where he called a timeout with 2.6 seconds remaining. Coach McKay drew up a beautiful play where Ryan Kemrite lobbed the ball to Evan Maxwell at the basket. Maxwell caught the ball cleanly and had a great look, but he couldn’t finish.
  6. John Dawson set a career high with 22 points. He also added 7 rebounds and 4 assists. It seemed like he could get to the basket at will most of the game.
  7. Ryan Kemrite would make Shane Battier proud as a glue guy. Kemrite seems to do all the small things asked of him that don’t show up in a box score. For reference, check out Battier’s post on The Players Tribune which was posted earlier today.
  8. Several members of the Virginia basketball team was in attendance tonight as McKay was their primary recruiter. London Perrantes, Anthony Gill, Devin Hall, and Malcolm Brogdon were all in attendance. McKay will officiate Gill’s wedding this summer. After the game, McKay referred to Gill as being like another son to him.
  9. Liberty looks to get back on track Saturday night as they host Presbyterian at 7pm.