Down go the Lancers
Dawson and Chen win on Senior Night
BYE — Sophomore guard Lovell Cabbil drove past a defender for an easy layup.
Photo Credit: Amber Tiller
The Liberty Flames men’s basketball team (19-11, 14-3) made school history Thursday, Feb. 23, by defeating the Longwood University Lancers (6-2, 3-14) 61-45, to mark the first time the Flames won 14 games in the Big South.
“It’s hard to win 14 games in any league,” Head Coach Ritchie McKay said.
“The way we did it without Caleb (Homesley), who arguably is our best player.I’m proud that they didn’t see the snake on the rock. I think they focused on the rock and not the adversity. Anytime you coach a team and your guys respond that way, you feel blessed to be around a group with that kind of character and perseverance.”
The Flames controlled the game from the start by taking a 12-4 lead, but struggled to put away a Lancers team that ranked second-to-last in the Big South.
The Lancers went on a 9-0 run to steal the lead from the Flames at 13-12, halfway through the first half.
The two teams continually exchanged leads until the Flames got an unexpected spark late in the first half from sophomore forward Ryan Hiepler, who had only played a total of 45 minutes on the season.
“The motto I have about it is you always have to be thankful for the position that you’re in,” Hiepler said.
“I’m a 6-foot-nothing little white guy who can’t dunk. So I’m always thankful for the position that I’m in, but I’m never satisfied.”
Hiepler checked into the game with 3:56 left in the first half and recorded a steal just 15 seconds later, and then went on to sink his third 3-pointer of the season to tie the game at 24.
On the Flames next offensive possession, Hiepler would throw a dish to junior guard Ryan Kemrite to help the Flames take a 27-24 lead.
“Before the game I told (Hiepler) he might play more,” McKay said.
“I felt like if we needed (Hiepler) we could put him in and trust him. He does everything the coaches ask. We saw that ball go in, and I think that’s the happi- est I’ve seen him in a while. I was really excited for him.”
The Flames would then end the half with an explosive alley-oop thrown from junior guard A.C. Reid to freshman for- ward Brock Gardner that sent the crowd of more than 2,700 to their feet as the Flames capped off a 10-2 run.
The Flames started the second half on a 9-0 run over the Lancers, knock- ing down three straight shots from be- yond the arc.
After the explosive start to the 2nd half, the Flames were able to comfort- ably close out the game as the Lancers failed to cut the lead to less than eight throughout the rest of the game.
The win on senior night gave the Flames their 12th home win of the sea- son.
Before the game, senior guards Ray Chen and John Dawson were both honored for their contributions to the team.
“Rarely do you have a guy in your program who will do whatever it takes to win,” McKay said.
DUNK — Senior guard John Dawson went airborne.
Photo Credit: Amber Tiller
“John Dawson is willing to do whatever we needed for our team to grow. And to the same extent, Ray Chen works as hard as any body. The sacrice that he made by turning down the opportunity to potentially play overseas for money, to try to help us win a championship. I love both of them.”
The win gave the Flames an oppor- tunity to compete against UNC Ashe- ville for a share of rst place in the Big South.
However, the Flames fell to the Bulldogs 63-45 Saturday, Feb. 25.
The Flames will enter the men’s basketball Big South tournament as the 3rd-ranked seed.
“It means nothing if we’re the two or the three against the sixth or the seventh,” McKay said.
“We have zero advantage. We’re playing on neutral floor. Winning however many games or sharing a championship will matter not. Hopefully we get ourselves in a physical and mental mindset that it’s going to be hard win a conference championship.”
The Flames will travel to Rock Hill, South Carolina face Radford University in the quarter nals round of the Big South Tournament Thursday, March 2.
DAVIS is the asst. sports editor.