Liberty defeats Longwood, 61-45. Here’s our rapid reactions:

  1. It was certainly a different game than the first meeting between these two teams this seasons. In the first game, Liberty led the entire game, but in the 2nd meeting it took the Lancers all of 11 seconds of game time to get the lead. Ryan Hiepler sparked the Flames on a 21-2 run that spanned the final 3:33 of the first half and into the beginning of the 2nd. He hit a huge 3 to tie the game to start the run and got the crowd energized.
  2. The win gives the Flames 14 regular season conference wins setting the program record. Liberty had only won 13 games in a season one previous time, during the 2010-11 season. A win Saturday at UNC Asheville will also set the program record for best winning percentage in Big South play, besting the mark set during the 1996-97 season when the Flames finished 11-3 for a winning percentage of .786.
  3. Liberty now has 19 wins on the season, just one win shy of the 20 win plateau. The Flames have won 20 games on just 5 previous occasions with the most recent coming during the 2008-09 season when Coach McKay and Seth Curry guided the Flames to a DI record 23 wins. Only 3 of the previous 20 win seasons came during the school’s Division I history (1992, 1997, 2009).
  4. It was senior night for the Flames’ two seniors John Dawson and Ray Chen. Dawson finished with 9 points, 5 rebounds, and 2 assists. Chen played 6 minutes and recorded 1 rebound and 1 steal.
  5. With 10 points against the Lancers, Ryan Kemrite moves into 30th place on Liberty’s all-time career scoring list. Tonight alone, he passed David Dees, David Minaya, Tavares Speaks, and Davon Marshall. Kemrite could realistically reach 26th or 27th place on the list prior to the end of the season.
  6. Kemrite also has the school’s single season 3-point field goal percentage record in his site as the season comes to a close. He’s currently shooting 44.6% from 3 this year. The record is 44.0% set by Charles Richardson (1989) and Matt Hildebrand (1993).
  7. If Liberty doesn’t make the NCAA Tournament, they have a great chance to get an invite to a postseason tournament, either the NIT or the CIT. If they do, it will mark just the 5th time in the program’s DI history that the Flames have made a postseason tournament. The Flames made the NCAA Tournament in 1994, 2004, and 2013 and the CIT in 2009.
  8. With a win Saturday against UNCA, the Flames would clinch at least a share of the Big South regular season title for just the 3rd time in program history. Liberty also accomplished the feat in 1997 and 2004.
  9. There’s still so much to sort through in regards to tie breakers as we head towards the regular season finale this weekend, but the most likely scenario for the Flames is to get the #3 seed in next week’s Big South Tournament and most likely face #6 Radford. Of course, Liberty could still finish as high as #1 or even #2, but needs some help in addition to a win Saturday.
  10. The Flames’ season finale is on Saturday at 2pm at Asheville. Liberty has dropped 11 straight to the Bulldogs with their last win coming in 2011.

Notable quotes:
John Dawson – “I’m thankful and I’m blessed. To have this opportunity to play with a group of guys that believe in me, coming from a different school and having a brotherhood here, it’s not overwhelming but it is satisfying to know I have a family always here. I’m blessed to be a part of this organization and to play for this school. I’m just thankful for this opportunity.”

Ryan  Hiepler – “The motto that I have is you always have to be thankful for the position that you’re in. I’m a 6 foot nothing little white guy who can’t dunk. So, I’m always thankful of the position I’m in, but I’m never satisfied. You’ve always got to be ready. You can never accept where you’re at on the bench, whether you’re starting or anything, you always got to be improving and contributing something to the team whether it’s jumping up and yelling on the bench which I’ve been doing most of this season or it’s diving on the floor for a ball.”

Coach McKay – “John’s made a significant contribution, obviously. Rarely do you have a guy in your program that will do whatever it takes, especially with the acclaim that he had around his name and reputation, whatever it takes to win. Even if that means don’t shoot the ball, just play solid defense, or pay out of position, John Dawson was willing and is willing to do whatever we needed for our team to grow. To the same extent but a lesser duration, Ray Chen was the same. That guy works as hard as anybody. The sacrifice he made by turning down an opportunity to potentially play overseas for money to come here and try to help us win a championship. I love both of them for the contribution they have made, and I think it’s significant in helping our program grow a little bit.”