Till next year
Flames could not stop UNC Asheville
The Liberty men’s basketball team saw its season come to a quick and abrupt end Friday, March 4 in the second round of the Big South Championship in Buies Creek, North Carolina.
The Beginning — The Flames came a long way from their first game against
Division III opponent Covenant College, a 64-62 win at home. Photo credit: Leah Seavers
The No. 5-seeded Flames trailed from the beginning and were never able to recover in an 80-49 loss at the hands of the No. 4 UNC Asheville Bulldogs.
Redshirt sophomore guard John Dawson led the Flames with 15 points, while freshman Lovell Cabbil added 14.
Bulldogs sophomore guard Ahmad Thomas led all scorers with 27 points and added seven rebounds. He was one of four Bulldogs to reach double figures in scoring.
The Flames shot 31 percent from the field for the game and managed only 16 points in the first half. They also committed 13 turnovers, which translated into 17 Bulldog points. The Bulldogs came out firing and finished the game shooting 54.4 percent from the field and 52 percent (10-of-19) from beyond the arc.
Liberty finished the 2015-16 season 13-19 and 10-8 in the Big South. Despite the early exit from the conference championship, the Flames were by far the most surprising team in the Big South this season. Picked to finish last in the conference (11th) in the preseason poll, the Flames — aided by a seven-game winning streak from Jan. 19-Feb. 13 — managed to earn the fifth seed and a first round bye in the conference tournament.
After starting the season 3-1, the Flames struggled mightily, going on a 12-game losing streak that stretched from Nov. 26 to Jan. 2. They snapped their losing skid with back-to-back wins over conference opponents Coastal Carolina and Campbell and then lost two more conference games before shocking the rest of the Big South by winning seven in a row.
Flames Head Coach Ritchie McKay was named Big South Coach of the Year thanks to the unexpected success his team experienced this season. Dawson also earned Big South All-Conference Honorable Mention honors despite not playing for the Flames until Jan. 2 due to NCAA transfer rules.
The Flames will lose only one player — redshirt senior guard Anthony Fields — to graduation in 2016 and will retain their core players for the 2016-17 season. Although a promising season ended in a blowout loss, the Flames will return next season older, wiser and hungry.
Vandenbosch is the sports editor.