In a matchup of the top two teams in Conference USA, Liberty (25-6, 17-3 CUSA) got the upper hand with a 79-72 win over Sam Houston (21-10, 13-7 CUSA) on Senior Day in front of 3,523 fans at Liberty Arena.
“Another hard fought game in Conference USA,” said Liberty head coach Ritchie McKay. “Really proud of our group because I have a ton of respect for Coach Mudge and the way that team plays. They are a tough out. I knew it would be like that. They were missing one of their starters. They’ve been able to sustain and even get a little bit better in spite of having some season ending injuries. That speaks to the quality of coaching staff that is at Sam.”
The Flames were able to send out a senior class of eight players highlighted by the big three of Zach Cleveland, Colin Porter, and Kaden Metheny with a win over the Bearkats on Saturday afternoon to conclude the regular season. After leading by as many as 17, Sam Houston utilized an 11-0 run and kept clawing away at the deficit before tying the game at 68 with 2:43 to play. From there, Cleveland and Porter combined to score 12 of Liberty’s final 12 points. With a three point lead, Kaden Metheny got the hockey assist passing the ball to Zach Cleveland who found an open Colin Porter in the corner for a triple. That shot with 37 seconds remaining put the Flames up six.
“It was the right response,” McKay said of his team following the Sam Houston run. “It is what our program has been pursuant of in previous years. I apologize if I was short with you guys the other day, but it’s an emotional game, there’s a lot invested, and I just didn’t think we played like the connected team that we are. I wanted to make sure that changed and our guys responded rightly, I’m proud of them.”
Trailing by 2 at the 13 minute mark of the first half, Liberty went on an 8-0 spurt in less than a minute to grab a six point lead. The Flames would control the rest of the half, building a 10-point lead entering intermission after a Brett Decker three. Following the break, Liberty continued to build its lead, pushing its advantage to 17 on two different occasions.
Sam Houston, playing with just seven players active, had an extended 22-6 run in the second half, cutting its deficit from 17 down to just 1 with less than six minutes remaining. During that run, which spanned about seven minutes of game action, Liberty’s only points came from a Zander Carter three and a Zander Yates three.
Zach Cleveland paced the Flames with 19 points on 9 of 10 shooting to go along with 9 rebounds, and 9 assists. Colin Porter scored 15 points and Kaden Metheny had 14 points on 4 of 8 shooting from three. Brett Decker added 16 points while making 4 of 12 from three.
In addition to Cleveland, Porter, and Metheny, JJ Harper, Zander Yates, Josh Smith, Isaiah Ihnen, and JC Shirer were all honored prior to the game for Senior Day festivities. Following the game, the Flames celebrated with a presentation ceremony of the CUSA Regular Season Trophy on the court.
“These seniors deserve to go out with a good feeling and to celebrate with the fans,” McKay said. “They mean so much to our program. They mean so much to our campus. Flames Nation has been instrumental in us being able to do what we do. Those eight seniors, they have deposited deeply into the health of this program.”
Liberty finished the game shooting 50.9% from the field and 14 of 36 (38.9%) from three. After struggling in the first half, the Bearkats posted a solid second offensively, scoring 41 points while shooting 53.3% from the floor after intermission. Sam Houston finished the game at 45.2% shooting from the field as Liberty improves to 22-0 when holding its opponent under 50%.
“They missed a couple of easy ones,” McKay said of Sam Houston. “They were better in the 2nd half, hard to guard, and we got in a little foul trouble. If you’re playing Sam Houston, the game is never over. They have too much character, too much individual ability, and they have a plan. Their guys stay within that framework on 99% of the occasion.”
The Flames now turn its attention to the CUSA Tournament and Huntsville, Alabama where the team has a first round bye into the Quarterfinals after securing the regular season title and No. 1 seed for a second straight season. Liberty will play Wednesday night at 6:30 p.m. Eastern against the winner of the No. 8 seed and No. 9 seed, still yet to be determined (check back later today). The 8-seed will take on the 9-seed in the first round on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. Eastern.
“I’ve been in enough conference tournaments to know that it never happens the way you think it’s going to happen,” said McKay. “It’s really matchup related. Some teams we match up great with, some teams not so much. We’ve got to be able to counter some of those plans that we don’t match up well with. Every game has a life of its own. For us, having had a chance to go through three really hard games last year will hopefully be a little bit of a deposit.”
