Liberty falls to Princeton, 67-64. Here’s our rapid reactions:

  1. That’s 5 games now that the Flames have lost by single digits including two straight by exactly 3 points.
  2. The biggest story from this game is Caleb Homesley. He had developed into the team’s best player, leading the Flames with 13 points, 8 rebounds, and 4 assists when he left the game early in the 2nd half with an apparent right knee injury. Homesley scored a bucket, but immediately fell to the floor writhing in pain. As he screamed, he grabbed his knee. He tore his ACL during his senior year of high school and took 15 months to recover from it. McKay announced during the postgame that Homesley is out for the year. He did not announce his specific injury. His loss is a huge blow to the Flames and their hopes this season. McKay’s squad will need to rally together and see increased production from the entire team.
  3. True freshman Brock Gardner made his first career start. He picked up 2 fouls in the first 4 minutes of game action, but made an early impact with a blocked shot on Princeton’s first possession and a made 3-pointer. He didn’t play in the final 16 minutes of the 1st half due to the 2 fouls. The Flames will have to rely on Gardner much more with Homesley out of the lineup. Gardner had two back door cuts which led to dunks in the 2nd half. He went on to finish the game with 9 points and 5 rebounds.
  4. It was a shooting clinic as both teams fired up 3-pointers at a record pace. The Tigers and Flames combined to shoot 61 three pointers on the evening. Princeton finished with 17 made three pointers, the most by an opponent in Vines Center history. Princeton’s school record for made three pointers against a Division I opponent is 18.
  5. John Dawson continues to struggle. He finished the game with only 2 points on 1/7 shooting from the field. His only field goal came as time expired after Princeton’s defense backed off. He’s someone else Liberty absolutely has to have step up with Homesley out of the lineup.
  6. Ryan Kemrite continues to be a very productive player for the Flames. He’s very quiet as he goes about his business, all of a sudden you look up and he has 16 points. He finished the night with 16 points on 5/8 shooting from the field. He leads the Big South in 3-point percentage shooting and is one of the top players in the country in true shooting percentage.
  7. Apparently trying to send a message to the Flames regulars, walk-ons Ryan Hiepler and Zach Farquhar saw playing time against the Tigers. Hiepler has only played in 4 games this season while Farquhar has seen action in 3 games. The two combined to play 7 minutes in the first half.
  8. The Flames made a nice run late in the 2nd half after Princeton had pushed their lead to 15 points at the 7 minute mark. Liberty got as close as 1 in the final minutes, but was unable to dig themselves completely out of the hole they found themselves in. Liberty’s run was 16-2 to cut the game to 1 with just about a minute left in the game.
  9. Lovell Cabbil was in street clothes and did not play against the Tigers. Asked if it was an injury related issue, McKay said, “Nope. That was a coaches’ decision based on a minor situation that I felt didn’t uphold our culture.”
  10. Liberty has a few days off until hosting Clarks Summit Friday night at 7pm. It’s your last chance to see the team in action this year.