The Flames fall to UNC-Asheville, Thursday night. Here’s our rapid reactions:

  1. The Bulldogs jumped out to an early lead and never looked back. They led the entire way and by as much as 22 points. For most of the night, this Liberty team looked a lot more like the team we got accustomed to seeing during the first half of the season.
  2. It was a poor offensive performance for the Flames, or a strong defensive performance for UNCA, depending on your view. Liberty had 11 first half turnovers compared to just 1 assist. Asheville’s 1-3-1 halfcourt trapping defense caused plenty of issues for the turnover prone Flames.
  3. Asheville has now won 9 straight games against the Flames. The loss ends Liberty’s 4 game road winning streak.
  4. As terrific of a job that McKay’s done this season, perhaps his most difficult job will be to try to get this thing turned around. The Flames have certainly lost all the positive momentum they had from the 7 game win streak. Will they be able to muster any confidence to try to close the season out on a high note?
  5. A.C. Reid led the way for the Flames with 11 points on 3 made 3-pointers.
  6. Lovell Cabbil had a solid game, finishing with 10 points and 4 rebounds. He did hurt his left hand in the final minutes of the game, it what may have looked like a dislocated finger.
  7. John Dawson struggled to just 7 points on 1/11 field goal shooting.
  8. The Flames were just 5/18 (27.8%) shooting from 3.
  9. It looks like it will come down to Saturday afternoon in the Vines Center with Liberty and Gardner-Webb fighting it out. With Radford’s win over Campbell tonight, they can also get in the mix if they beat Longwood on Saturday.