Flames conclude regular season with win
After losing 3 straight games, it was important for the Flames to finish the regular season on a high note. They did just that by defeating Gardner-Webb on senior day. Liberty’s lone senior, Anthony Fields, finished the game with 8 points, 5 assists, and 2 rebounds. He got the start for the first time since December 8th and played 32 minutes, the most he has played since January 9th. Caleb Homesley set a new career-high with 22 points. Coupled with Radford’s loss to Longwood on Saturday, the Flames vaulted to 5th place and got the final first round bye in the Big South Tournament.

mckayMcKay Big South Coach of the Year, Dawson & Kemrite receive honors
Ritchie McKay was named the Big South Coach of the Year as announced by the Big South on Tuesday. McKay led the Flames to a 5th place finish with a 10-8 mark in Big South play. The 10 wins are the most by Liberty since 2011 and mark an 8 win improvement over last season’s team. Liberty was picked to finish last in the 11 team Big South in the preseason. This marks the 2nd time Liberty has had the Big South’s Coach of the Year as Dale Layer also received the honor following the 2010-11 season. McKay received 15 1st place votes and 64 total points, ahead of UNCA’s Nick McDevitt (7 1st place votes and 49 points) and Winthrop’s Pat Kelsey (5 1st place votes and 44 points).

John Dawson earned all-conference honorable mention while Ryan Kemrite was named to the conference’s all-academic team.

Big South Tournament
As we all know, the Big South Tournament is underway at Campbell University in Buies Creek, North Carolina. Hopefully, you had the chance to catch our Tournament preview as well as the newest episode of FlamesNation Insider which the majority of the show surrounded the tournament. Also, bookmark our Big South Tournament page which includes a live bracket, schedule, scores, recaps, and much more. Prior to the tournament starting, KenPom gives Liberty a 1.6% chance of winning the entire tournament, a 21% chance of advancing to the semis, and a 6% chance of reaching the final. UNCA is KenPom’s favorite, but it is very close with the top 4 seeds. Radford, Campbell, and Gardner-Webb all have higher probabilities of winning the tournament than Liberty, according to KenPom.

Basketball commits update

  • Point guard Xzavier Barmore career came to an end in the state semifinals last Friday night, falling to AC Flora by 4 points. Barmore finished the game with 17 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists. For the season, he averaged 22.6 points, 5.5 assists, 4.6 steals, and 4.2 rebounds per game while shooting 44% from the field, 30% from 3, and 63% from the free throw line.
  • Josiah Talbert and Olathe East advanced to the playoffs and had a game Thursday night. Olathe East is 16-4 on the season. Josiah is averaging 15 points, 7 rebounds, and 3 blocks per game on the season.
  • Brody Hicks and Cave Spring captured 3rd place in the Group 3A West Region tournament with a win over Western Albemarle last Friday. Hicks connected on 7 three pointers on his way to 28 points. They have advanced to the state quarterfinals.

NFL Combine
Both Josh Woodrum and John Lunsford had successful outings at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis this past weekend. Woodrum finished in the top 10 out of 18 quarterbacks in all of his drills including a 1st place finish in the 3-cone drill. John Lunsford turned in a 4.74 40 yard dash, 2nd best for a kicker.

Women’s basketball update
The Lady Flames picked up wins over Longwood and Winthrop this past week to improve their Big South record to 15-4. Liberty is still tied with UNC-Asheville for first place and a win over Presbyterian in the season finale on Saturday would ensure the Lady Flames of at least a share of the regular season title. The women’s conference tournament begins March 11th.

Baseball has productive trip to SC
Liberty’s baseball team won 3 out of 4 games in Myrtle Beach, sweeping the 2 games against Marshall, picking up a win over Duke, and falling to Ohio State 5-4 in the finale. The Flames dropped a 7-6 decision to Old Dominion on Tuesday courtesy of a blown save. The Flame Train is now 5-4 this season and has a 3-game home stand beginning Friday afternoon against UConn.

FlameFans thread of the week
This week’s FlameFans thread of the week is 2016 Big South Tournament.