Liberty (19-5, 7-4 CUSA) picked up a 64-61 win over Sam Houston (8-16, 1-10) on Saturday evening in Lynchburg, Virginia in front of 3,355 fans at Liberty Arena.
“We were a little off and they had a lot to do with it,” said Liberty head coach Ritchie McKay. “Taelon Peter has come in and given us some life but he got his third (foul) in the first half and then picked up his fourth, kind of shortened our bench a little bit. Zander (Yates), who is used to making all those threes, he didn’t connect them (tonight), and Gabriel came in and gave us some good minutes off the bench. But those starters had to log a long time.”
The Bearkats may be sitting alone at the bottom of the Conference USA standings, but you wouldn’t notice that from the way they play. Despite their 1-10 record in conference play, they have three losses in overtime and all of them have come by single digits. Sam Houston, coming off a last year’s regular season title, is literally just a few possessions away from being right in the mix in the middle of the pack in the conference standings.
“It’s really hard when you see yourself in the standings where they see themselves,” said McKay. “They don’t take a possession off. If you did your homework on them, if you scouted ’em, they are possessions, I’d say under 15 possessions away from being 7-4 or 8-3 (in conference play). They’ve got a really good team. I said this on Thursday, if you want to see some really good college basketball, come to the Arena. This is the best it’s ever been in terms of Liberty playing in a conference with this much competition.”
Liberty’s leading scorer, Kaden Metheny, had struggled the past two games. After going without a field goal in last Saturday’s loss at Jacksonville State, he was just 3 of 9 from the floor on Thursday night against Louisiana Tech. Entering Saturday against Sam Houston, Metheny had made just one of his last 11 three-point attempts.
The 5’11” guard missed his first three points attempt of the game, as he remained scoreless throughout much of the first half. He finally got to the free throw line with 7:55 left in the opening half and knocked down both of his shots from there. Just a couple possessions later, Metheny got into the paint and was able to put away a driving layup for his first field goal of the night. He got another layup on the next possession and then buried a three–pointer from the right wing on the ensuing possession, as he scored 9 points in just 2 minutes and 30 seconds of game action. That spurt sparked a big night from the Liberty guard as he led the team with 26 points, a season high for Metheny.
“That’s Kaden Metheny,” McKay said of his guard flushing out his prior performances. “He’s got a maturity about him that I think is admirable. He’s got a confidence level too. If your greatest strength is sometimes your greatest weakness if misappropriated. Kaden’s greatest strength is how hard and competitive he is on every possession. When you empty your tank like that, some times you’re not going to have it.”
The Flames took the opening lead and maintained their advantage into the halftime locker room, 33-29. The Bearkats would not go down without a fight. They came out of the locker room focused on attacking the basket and getting down hill. They scored 7 of the first 10 points after intermission to tie the game for the first time since it was 2-2 in the opening minutes. Liberty was unable to get any separation from Sam Houston until Marcus Boykin was able to give them their first lead of the night with a three-pointer at the 9:26 mark. That bucket started a stretch of Boykin scoring the final 15 of 19 points for Sam Houston. He finished the game with a team-high 23.
It wouldn’t be enough though, as Liberty regained the lead off four straight Colin Porter points, his latest, two free throws, to give the Flames the 55-53 edge with 6:03 to play. Liberty would push their advantage to five on the heels of five straight by Metheny, taking the 60-55 lead with 4:26 remaining. Still, Sam Houston fought back. Boykin scored five straight to tie it with 3:32 to play.
Both teams would be held scoreless over the next several possessions and couple of minutes, with the game tied at 60 with just 1:28 to play and Sam Houston having the ball. After a timeout, Metheny would force a turnover and grab the ball in transition near midcourt. He would find an open Zach Cleveland for the alley-oop finish to put the Flames back in front.
On the ensuing Sam Houston possession, Owen Aquino blocked Cameron Huefner’s attempt. After a Liberty turnover, Zach Cleveland blocked Marcus Boykin’s driving layup. The Bearkats then missed a three-pointer with just 18 seconds remaining. Taelon Peter would make two free throws down the stretch to help push the lead to a two-possession Liberty advantage.
Porter reached double figures with 10 points, marking his 6th straight double digit scoring streak, the longest of his career. He also added 3 rebounds and 3 assists. Zach Cleveland finished with 8 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 assists.
Liberty finished the night with 7 blocks, their second most this season. Those blocks helped hold Sam Houston to no field goals in the final 3:32 of the game as they finished just 1 of 7 from the field down the stretch. The Flames were 13 of 16 from the line for 81.3%, the second best night Liberty had from the charity stripe this season. The win helps Liberty post its first perfect 2-0 week in conference play so far this season.
“It’s a relief,” McKay said of winning the two games at home this week over Louisiana Tech and Sam Houston. “Simply because if you drop one at home you have to go win another one on the road. Sweeping on the road is incredibly difficult in Conference USA. I knew it was going to be a battle because I thought our guys showed again a sense of finishing and perseverance that we really needed to.”
The Flames hit the road this week, playing at New Mexico State and UTEP. Liberty will take on the Aggies on Thursday night from Las Cruces, New Mexico with tip-off scheduled for 9 p.m. on ESPN+.
