Pushed to the brink, Liberty (23-3, 15-0 CUSA) escaped the upset bid by FIU (12-20, 5-10 CUSA) on Thursday night, winning 90-89 in overtime to remain unbeaten in conference play and push its win streak to 17 straight in front of a crowd of 3,553 at Liberty Arena. With the win, the Flames clinch at least a share of the CUSA regular season title for a second straight year.
“Just wanted to make sure everyone got their money’s worth, so 45 minutes instead of 40 was the plan all along,” Liberty head coach Ritchie McKay said jokingly. “No, hats off to FIU. Man, they gave us problems in Miami. Their length is really, really imposing. I just felt like we had to find a way. They got 37 offensive rebounds against us in two games. Obviously, their plan was to throw it up there and go get it. I thought our guys fought hard. We were really fortunate tonight.”
Trailing by 5 with 40 seconds remaining in regulation, Kaden Metheny knocked home a deep three-pointer. Brett Decker then hit two free throws to tie the game and send it to overtime for a second time this season, both against the Panthers. In the extra session, the lead exchanged hands four times in the first two minutes before Liberty pushed the lead to 4 on a Metheny three and two Colin Porter free throws. After Florida International cut it to one on three free throws with 7 seconds remaining, JJ Harper misses both of his free throws. The Flames were then able to escape with the victory as Corey Stephenson’s three-pointer from the top of the key missed.
“Our group never wavered,” said McKay. “I don’t think we are outcome or scoreboard based. I think those seasons are rare when you are coaching a team. I was pleased that we had a lot of composure for 45 minutes.”
The Flames are now 6-3 all-time against the Panthers, including a 5-1 mark in CUSA action. Liberty has bested FIU in four straight meetings. The Flames played the Panthers in this year’s CUSA opener back on Dec. 28 and emerged victorious by a 97-94 score in overtime. Brett Decker Jr. (game-high 27 points) and Kaden Metheny (25 points, six assists) combined for 52 points in the road triumph. In both games against FIU this season, the Panthers have feasted on second chance points and have created turnovers, as they always do. On Thursday night, FIU had an 18-5 edge in second chance points and forced 15 Liberty turnovers, the second most the Flames have committed in a game this season (17 at NC State).
“90 minutes worth of basketball versus the Panthers,” McKay said of the two games this season against FIU. “The similarities in games was unique on two fronts – number one, their length can bother you and we turned it over 15 times, number two, their offensive rebounding commitment really helped their cause tonight.”
Liberty controlled the game for the most part in the first half, leading for 16:16 of the opening 20 minutes but entered the locker room only ahead by one at 41-40. In the second stanza, the Panthers had the upper hand for the most part, leading for 15:46 of the 25 minutes after the intermission. They shot near 70% from the field for much of the second half, making 14 of their first 20 field goals in the second half. Over the final six minutes of the second half and overtime, Liberty limited FIU to 2 of 18 from the field.
“If you are in coaching, you love this,” McKay said of the close games recently. “Again, we never planned to be undefeated. We just try and keep finding a better version of us. A lot to work on. Each time you play a team, they’ll expose something that may be hasn’t been exposed for a week or a few games. You get to dial it back, ‘We’ve been a little inattentive to this particular aspect.'”
The game was very physical and got chippy at points late. The two teams combined for three flagrants and two dead ball technical fouls, all of them coming after halftime. FIU’s Zawdie Jackson was whistled for an offensive flagrant foul after Metheny’s three-pointer cut the deficit to two in the final 30 seconds. That call turned the ball over to the Flames and allowed Decker to step to the line for the game tying free throws.
“I think those were two teams that really wanted to win the game badly,” said McKay. “I thought the officials did a good job of trying to level it off. It gets very edgy this time of the year, prelude to what you will see in Huntsville when the desperation level increases ten-fold.”
Zach Cleveland led the team with 18 points on 8 of 10 shooting. He was also 2 of 3 from the ch rarity stripe and had 4 rebounds and 8 assists. JJ Harper added 16 points as did Brett Decker who made all 8 of his free throw attempts. Kaden Metheny had 15 points on 4 of 10 shooting from three.
The Flames finished the game shooting 50.8% form the field and made 14 of 28 (50.0%) from three. Liberty also made 16 of 22 (72.2%) from the free throw line. The Panthers shot 45.1% from the field and were just 1 of 7 in overtime. Liberty improves to 21-0 this season when scoring 71 or more points, 21-0 when its opponent shoots less than 50% from the field for the game, and 17-0 when the Flames exceed 50% on field goals.
“Really good college basketball game, really fortunate to win.”
The Flames return to Liberty Arena on Saturday afternoon against Western Kentucky at 4 p.m. on ESPN+. The Hilltoppers are currently 15-11 on the season and 8-7 in conference play, tied for 3rd place in the league standings. WKU is coming off three straight wins including an overtime win, 88-87, at Delaware on Wednesday night.
“In this league, it does not matter,” said McKay. “What color uniform you are wearing, does not matter. You’ve got to earn a win for 40 minutes.”
