Liberty (8-4) got off to a good start in Hawaii at the Diamond Head Classic, defeating Northern Iowa (4-6), 76-74. The Flames, who were a 2.5 point underdog entering the game, made 15 of 31 three pointers on the afternoon.

“Really good win for our program,” said Liberty head coach Ritchie McKay. “Northern Iowa is a program I’ve followed for years and I have a great deal of admiration for. I think Ben Jacobsen is a fabulous coach. Their staff, they do a great job. They’ve got one of the best players in the country in AJ Green. I was proud of our effort defensively against him and the rest of their group. I think that was what was able to propel us to victory.”

The Flames fell behind by as many as 11 points midway through the first half, but the team would not wilt. Liberty responded with a 12-0 run to take the lead. A 16-5 run to close the first half would help Liberty to push its lead to double figures.

Liberty led by 10 with just over three minutes to play in the game, but the Panthers didn’t go down easily. UNI went on a 12-3 run before Keegan McDowell made one of two free throws with five seconds left. The Flames would have to withstand a last second Northern Iowa three pointer which was missed to preserve the win.

“I felt we could have finished the game better down the stretch,” said McKay. “We missed a couple free throws and made it a little too easy for them offensively. For the most part, when you are playing good teams, you’re just going to have to outlast them and I thought we did.”

With the win, Liberty advances in the winner’s bracket of the Diamond Head Classic. The Flames will play on Thursday at 4 p.m. against the winner of Wyoming-Stanford in a game televised on ESPN2.

Here are our three main takeaways from today’s game:

KYLE RODE CONTINUES STRONG PLAY

After beginning the season with an uncharacteristic cold start, Kyle Rode has picked up his play the past two games. On Friday against East Carolina, the junior forward scored a season-high 12 points to go along with 5 assists as he made all four of his field goals, three of which from three-point range.

Against the Panthers on Wednesday, Rode made his first three shot attempts, all from behind the arc and in the first half while the Flames were struggling. He finished the game with 9 points and 3 assists, making three of five shots and three of four from three.

THREE POINT SHOOTING KEY FOR FLAMES

Liberty continues with the live by the three die by the three mantra, the Flames finished the game making 15 of 31 shots from behind the arc. Liberty is now 7-0 on the season when making nine or more three-pointers in a game and 1-4 when making eight or fewer. The only win came against Maryland Eastern Shore when the Flames made exactly eight triples in that game.

On Wednesday against Northern Iowa, Liberty had contributions from five different players who connected from behind the arc. Darius McGhee led the way with four makes, as did Keegan McDowell. Darius led the team with 22 points followed by McDowell’s 15 and Shiloh Robinson’s 15. Robinson made two triples, as did Micaiah Abii. Kyle Rode made three of his four attempts.

MICAIAH ABII WORKING HIS WAY INTO THE ROTATION

Micaiah Abii began the season as a guy who played minimal minutes. Three of Liberty’s first five games this season, he played less than a minute. That trend has changed recently with Abii playing double figure minutes in each of the past five games. During that stretch, he has scored double figures in three of those games. Abii scored 11 against Delaware State and 10 against Carver while reaching double figures with 11 against UNI. He made four of his five shots and two of three from three point range in 15 minutes.

“Today, Micaiah came off (the bench),” McKay said of his sophomore forward. “He gave us great minutes, not just in scoring. He did a really good job defensively and handling the ball. Micaiah has that ability. I like the way we are progressing. I think it’s critical to our growth that we get multiple guys contributing.”