Liberty (14-9, 3-5) defeats UTEP (12-11, 3-5), 67-65, on Saturday night in El Paso, Texas to get back in the win column.
“Really tough environment,” said Liberty head coach Ritchie McKay. “I told our guys in the locker room, really proud of the way they handled the mental exhaustion that I think we experienced a little bit. It’s a long trip. Shiloh goes down in maybe a little bit an unjust deal. You finish that game, you lose a tough one in overtime. Couldn’t practice them much because of the amount of minutes the starters and a couple others played to pulll this one out. I think it was a really good win for us.”
Behind some strong three-point shooting and the play of Kaden Metheny, the Flames were able to jump out to a first half lead it maintained throughout much of the game. The lead grew to as many as nine points early in the second half before the home-standing Miners came charging back to take the lead. A 9-0 Liberty run put the team ahead by 5 with 3:27 left int he game. Despite some sloppy play and missed free throws down the stretch, the team hung on for the win.
Kaden Metheny scored a Liberty career high with 21 points followed by Zach Cleveland who had 18. Brody Peebles added 10 points off the bench.
After a three game road trip, the Flames now return home for two straight beginning Thursday night against Middle Tennessee.
FLAMES HALT ROAD SKID
It had been a long time since Liberty picked up a win on the road. It hadn’t happened this calendar year or ever in Conference USA play. After an 0-4 start on the road in CUSA play, Liberty ended that skid with the win on Saturday night in El Paso, Texas.
The Flames led most of the way but a UTEP run late int he second half gave the Miners the lead. It would have been easy for Liberty to fold, give in to the pressure amid the losing streak. They wouldn’t do that though, fighting back with a 9-0 spurt of their own to regain the lead for good. Now, the team has a little bit of momentum and gets to return home for two straight.
“Any win has some value to it,” said McKay. “The more you do it, the more people draw attention to it. CUSA has the best home record of any conference in conference play. It’s our lot. We never played before in a league that has this configuration of teams. We haven’t experienced it. We are learning too. We are learning the venues. We are learning the style of officiating. We are learning it all. Very pleased that we were able to get a win against a good team in a tough venue.”
METHENY, CLEVELAND LEAD THE WAY
It was a big first half offensively from Kaden Metheny. He scored 14 points while making 4 of 6 from three in the opening 20 minutes. He added another triple in the opening minutes of the second half to quickly get out to 17 points. The Bowling Green transfer would finish the game with a Liberty career high of 21 points to go along with 5 rebounds.
Zach Cleveland was right there with Metheny, scoring 18 points on the night to go along with his 7 assists and 3 rebounds. Cleveland was 6 of 9 both from the field and from the charity stripe in the win.
“Zach Cleveland puts so much pressure on the defense,” said McKay. “Kaden is a special player. He does everything we ask and more. He does it on both ends, he’s not just an offensive player. I think his injection of confidence, of joy, of gratitude. I think it permeates throughout our program.”
LIBERTY OUTLASTS MINERS
The Flames went to overtime just 48 hours ago against New Mexico State in a very physical game. It was a tough turnaround for Liberty from then to Saturday night against UTEP, but the Flames were able to gut out the victory on the road.
With an opportunity to seal the game, the Flames were just 2 of 6 from the free throw line in the final 31 seconds of the game. It allowed the Miners to stay within striking distance even until the final buzzer. And Liberty had the shooters it would have wanted on the line during that time with Kyle Rode, Brody Peebles, and Kaden Metheny all having their chances at the line but unable to come through. Still, the Flames were able to gut out the win.
“Our guys are beat,” McKay said. “They are exhausted. They’ve played a lot of minutes. We found a way. There’s such a fine line between winning and losing. We were on the right side of it this time. We’ve been on the right side of it in years past. Our team is still growing. We are still learning how to execute down the stretch and how much the little things matter. This was a good deposit.”
