Liberty (8-3) goes on the road and does what hadn’t been accomplished in a long time by knocking off Dayton (9-4), 64-61. It was the first loss for the Flyers at home against a non-conference opponent in 34 tries and their first loss at home this season, falling to 7-1.
“I have a lot of respect and admiration for Coach (Anthony) Grant and their program,” said Liberty head coach Ritchie McKay. “Really neat opportunity to play in a venue like this. I think it was their 86th consecutive sellout, and we definitely felt it when they went on the run in the first half and went up 10 and when they caught us (in the second half). For our guys to respond, I thought that showed a lot of character and maturity. Really pleased with the outcome.”
The win comes on the heels of Liberty dropping 3 of 4 games against Division I opponents including a 40-point drubbing at NC State in the team’s first and only other true road contest this season. It was a season-low in points for Dayton, their previous low was 62 points in a loss to Cincinnati.
“We’re just going to keep pursuing,” said McKay. “You can’t get your identity from what you do, what you have, or what other people think about you. I sat on the sideline for a 40-point loss at NC State. No fun. It would be easy to say they’re not this or they’re not that. Our group has a belief and an appreciation. We believe in ourselves, and when we are in our identity, we can be competitive wherever. They also have an appreciation for representing Liberty and doing it in a way that glorifies the Lord as well as making sure we are pursuing excellence. I’m really proud of them especially losing three out of five.”
The Flyers, coming off a 97-69 win at home over Florida State earlier this week, took the early lead and pushed their advantage to as many as 10 points at 29-19 at the 6:41 mark of the first half. Liberty would buckle in defensively at that point and begin to claw their way back. The Flames held Dayton without a field goal for over 6 minutes to cut their deficit to four entering the halftime break. After the Flyers hit a three-pointer on their opening possession of the second half, Dayton was held without a field goal for over 5 minutes. They went 12:20 of game action by making just two field goals, allowing the Flames to go from down 10 to up 5.
After trailing for the first 23 minutes of the game, Liberty took its first lead on a Brett Decker three-pointer with 16:34 to play. It was part of a 13-0 Flames run. In front of another sellout crowd, the homesteading Flyers would not go down without a fight. They never let Liberty get up by more than 7 and went on a quick 5-0 spurt to tie the game with 5:22 left and, after a Zach Cleveland bucket, scored another 5 straight to take a three-point lead at 61-58 at the 2:28 mark. Liberty would quickly answer as Colin Porter, blowing through an injured hamstring, buried a triple to tie the game once again. Cleveland made 1 of 2 free throws a few possessions later and then Metheny got free for a layup and the final points with 12 seconds left.
The Flames held Dayton scoreless for the final 2:27. The Flyers shot 38% from the field and were 9 of 27 (33%) from three.
Liberty shot a season low 18 three point attempts. The previous season low was 23 attempts in loss to Bradley. The Flames made 8 of those triples for 44% while shooting 48% from the field and 4 of 9 (44%) from the free throw line. Instead of hoisting a lot of threes, Liberty made it a point of emphasis to get to the bucket, outscoring the larger Dayton team, 36-20, in points in the paint.
Entering Saturday’s game, the Flyers were ranked 9th in the country in turnovers forced per game, causing 17.5 turnovers per game. The Flames, one of the best in the country at handling the ball with just 9.1 turnovers per game, finished with just 6 turnovers.
Kaden Metheny led the Flames with 16 points as he was 7 of 14 from the field and 2 of 5 from three. Brett Decker had 15 points on 6 of 12 shooting and 3 of 8 from three. Colin Porter added 13 points while making 3 of his 4 three-point shots. Just a few days after staying away from the team due to an illness, Cleveland had 12 points on 5 of 9 shooting with a career-high 16 rebounds and 7 assists.
“Zach Cleveland was phenomenal,” McKay pointed out. “He really connected us. As poorly as he felt and played against NC State, he was as good today. If there was a statistic taken for winning plays or impact on the team’s offense or defense, Zach Cleveland would be one of the leading players in the country. He’s pretty special.”
The Flames and Flyers will meet again next season when Dayton heads to Lynchburg and Liberty Arena to finish off the home-and-home series.
The Flames are done with non-conference play now and will begin the first of 20 straight CUSA games next weekend as Liberty travels to Miami to take on FIU. The Panthers are currently 5-4 on the season, their best start since 2021-22 ahead of their two games this week, beginning today at home against Long Island and concluding Monday against Trinity.
