Liberty drops its Big South Conference Tournament quarterfinal matchup with Radford, 56-52. Here’s our rapid reactions:

  1. The Flames struggled all afternoon shooting the ball, finishing the game 36% from the field and 29% from 3 point range. It’s hard to win any game with those numbers.
  2. With the exception of a Liberty 3-2 lead, Radford led throughout, and kept the lead around the 7-10 point margin most of the game. The Flames did go on a 9-0 run to cut the Highlanders’ lead to 1 at 42-41. Liberty then had multiple opportunities to take the lead, but failed to take advantage. Liberty would grab a lead thanks to a John Dawson 3-pointer with 1:50 to play. The Flames were outscored 9-3 in the final stretch.
  3. For the 2nd consecutive game, Myo Baxter-Bell was Liberty’s most consistent offensive threat. He scored 18 points on 8/14 shooting from the field. Reminder that he’s just a redshirt-freshman, the sky is the limit for him as he continues to develop.
  4. Lovell Cabbil was the only other Flame to reach double figures, as he scored 12 points.
  5. Outside of Myo and Cabbil, the Flames were 7/31 from the field. Dawson did connect on three 3s in the 2nd half.
  6. Liberty continues to struggle at the Winthrop Coliseum, having not won there since February 18, 2004. This was the Flames’ first game against someone other than Winthrop during that stretch.
  7. The Flames have now lost their first game of the Big South Tournament for 4 straight seasons and 7 out of the last 8. The lone exception was the 2013 Big South Tournament where Liberty won 4 straight games to claim the 2013 Big South Tournament Championship.
  8. Radford picks up the win after being swept by Liberty during the regular season. The Flames haven’t gone 3-0 against an opponent since the 2003-04 season.
  9. After a 13-2 stretch to open Big South play this season, Liberty has lost 3 out of their last 4 games.
  10. The Flames have been eliminated from the Big South and NCAA Tournaments, but with a 19-13 overall record will likely receive an at-large bid to a postseason tournament, the CIT being the most likely. Until then, Liberty has to sulk over this loss.