Lucky No. 13

Lovell Cabbell comes up big in the final seconds

The second installment of the Ritchie McKay era began with a victory Friday night, as the Liberty men’s basketball team hung on to defeat the Covenant Scots, 64-62, in the season opener Nov. 13 in the Vines Center.

True freshman guard Lovell Cabbil hit two free throws with 2.6 seconds left in the game to give the Flames (2-0) a dramatic first win of the season. Cabbil, one of eight freshmen on the Flames roster, finished with six points and eight rebounds in his first collegiate game.

“Overall, I couldn’t have asked for a better situation for our group,” Flames Head Coach Ritchie McKay said. “We needed to be tested early.”

Sophomore center Evan Maxwell led the team with career-highs in points (15) and rebounds (10) to collect his first career double-double. Redshirt sophomore guard Ryan Kemrite added 13 points and six rebounds for the Flames. Liberty finished the game shooting 40.7 percent from the field.

“It definitely feels good to (finally) go out and compete in a game setting with fans,” Maxwell said. “(To) go out there and put into play what we’ve been working on … I think we could have executed better and had more discipline, but that’s going to come with time and work and we’re going to keep getting better.”

Sophomore guard Berto Dryden led the Scots with 14 points and four assists, while senior forward Chris Boyd tacked on 12 points and three rebounds. Covenant lost despite shooting 44 percent from the field.

Both teams started rather cold, as the Flames scored first on a tip-in by Maxwell 41 seconds into the game to make it 2-0. The next basket would not come until nearly three minutes later, when sophomore forward Patjo Twagirayezu knocked down a three-pointer to give the Scots a 3-2 lead with 16:31 remaining.

After a layup by Kemrite gave the Flames a 14-12 lead with 8:23 left in the half, the Scots answered with a 7-0 run to take a 19-14 lead with 6:21 to play. The Scots pushed their lead to as many as seven, which would be their biggest advantage of the night, leading 25-18 with 3:58 remaining. The Flames ended the half on an 8-2 run and went into the locker room trailing, 27-26. Liberty struggled to shoot the ball in the first half, going 10-of-34 (29.4 percent) from the field in the half.

“As a coach, you can motivate in a few different ways,” McKay said.

“You can yell and scream at (players), which really isn’t my style, or you can reward them with minutes when they’re playing well and take them out when they’re not doing so well. I almost reached for Coach (Omar) Mance and asked him if he could go in.”

The second half saw better play from both teams, as the Flames shot 14-of-25 (56 percent) from the field in the second half and the Scots shot 13-of-28 (46.4 percent). Both teams went back and forth for the remainder of the game in a half that saw three lead changes and five ties.

After Dryden tied the game at 35 on a layup with 15:56 to play, the Flames went on a 10-2 run that began with a three-pointer from sophomore forward A.C. Reid to take a 45-37 lead with 14:07 left in the game.

The Scots battled back to make it a 45-43 with 12:22 remaining, and after that, neither team would lead by more than six points for the rest of the night.

The real drama began in the final minute of the game. After Cabbil made one of two free throws to give the Flames a 62-60 lead with 26 seconds left, the Scots were given a chance to tie the game. Twagirayezu then attempted a baseline three that fell short, but the Flames allowed Dryden to corral the rebound and put it back in to tie the game at 62 with 12 seconds remaining.

With seven seconds left, Cabbil attempted to drive to the basket and was fouled by Boyd with 2.6 seconds to go. Cabbil, who was 1-for-6 from the field, proceeded to hit both free throws and give the Flames a 64-62 victory.

“(Those free throws) were a huge confidence boost,” Cabbil said. “I wasn’t shooting well, I couldn’t make layups, I couldn’t hit jumpers and those free throws really helped me to take some of the weight off of my shoulders.”

Despite the win, the game was far from perfect for Liberty. The Flames, who were last in the Big South last year averaging 16.3 turnovers per game, equaled that average Friday night by turning the ball over 16 times. The Flames were also only 10-for-17 (58 percent) from the free-throw line.

“Our bench is a little thin,” McKay said. “But I’m proud of our guys and I think they’re getting better, we just took a little step backwards from the way we’ve been practicing.”

The Flames continue their four-game set at the Vines Center to open the season when they host William & Mary Tuesday, Nov. 17 at 7 p.m.

Vandenbosch is the sports editor.