Second-largest crowd in arena history for Flames basketball

Homecourt advantage is a real thing. Or at least, it is for Liberty Flames men’s basketball.

 In the last five seasons, this Flames team is 68-5 on their home court and 13-1 this season. On Saturday night, the Flames confirmed that trend, defeating the FGCU Eagles 74-57. With that win, the Flames are now 9-1 in conference play and tied for first in the ASUN with Kennesaw State. 

In front of their second-biggest home crowd in arena history, Head Coach Ritchie McKay and company put on a show for the home fans. 

“Man, the crowd was phenomenal tonight,” McKay said. “I don’t usually get into it with the arms and all that, but I was proud of our guy’s defensive effort, and I think (the crowd) injected or infused some confidence in us. When you get a home-court advantage because of the atmosphere like that, I think you can be a really tough-out at home. It’s just another opportunity to get better, and I think we capitalize on it.”

The crowd wasn’t the only advantage for the Flames. For a team that tends to live and die via the 3-pointer, it was a much more rough-and-tumble night for the Flames. Of the 74 points the Flames scored, 44 came from inside the painted area. 

“I like layups, too,” McKay said. “I know we shoot a lot of 3s, but we have good players that can make (layups). And we have one in particular that I think is in the conversation for being one of the best guards in the country.”

The guard McKay is referring to is fifth-year senior Darius McGhee, who displayed his usual heroics for the home crowd. McGhee ended the night with a team-high of 24 points, which moves him just 27 points away from breaking the program-scoring record. That record is currently held by former Flame Karl Hess, who scored 2,373 points in his four-year career as Liberty’s lead guard (1977-1980). 

McGhee has a special connection with this home crowd, who seem to never be as loud as when he does something spectacular. 

“It’s definitely electric,” McGhee said of the crowd. “We were talking in the locker room. If we have that crowd every single game for the rest of the season, we got to be juiced to play for the remainder of the season. Energy plays happening in the midst of games is just basketball, but when you have a crowd that can inject you with energy like you did tonight, it almost makes you feel invincible.” 

The Flames certainly seemed to be injected with energy, especially during the second half. Coming out of the locker rooms, the Flames led by just four points with a score of 38-34. The second half started, and it looked as if the game was going to remain close until around the 16-minute mark when the Flames went on a 20-4 run over the next nine minutes of play.

“I really think our guys took it upon themselves to be hard to play against in the second half, and it certainly started in the first three out of 13 possessions,” he said. 

The defensive effort by the Flames was the key to them pulling away from the Eagles, and it was something McKay made a point to mention postgame. 

The Flames defense held the Eagles to a mere 36% from the field in the second half, while also holding them to 23 points. The Liberty offense was also able to keep pace with its defense, even while playing through the complex and difficult defensive looks from FGCU. 

“Whenever people play, I call it gimmick, but whatever combination zones, you just got to outlast it,” McKay said. “I thought we did a really good job in the second half. We got some really good shots.” 

Leading the way for the Flames offense was McGhee, and coming alongside him were three other Flames who all tallied double-digit points. Senior forward Kyle Rode scored 16 points, 12 of which came off his four first-half 3s. Another senior forward, Blake Preston, scored 10 points along with 10 rebounds to give him his seventh career double-double. Rounding out the scoring was another senior forward, Shiloh Robinson, who added 14 points off the bench on 6-7 shooting. 

The Flames will now take to the road to face ASUN opponents Austin Peay and Lipscomb before returning to Liberty Arena Feb. 9 against Bellarmine. The Flames look to retain their position at the top of the conference with a win against Austin Peay, and McGhee could take his place as the all-time leader in points with a 27-or more-point outing. 

Palsgrove is the asst. sports editor for the Liberty Champion. Follow him on Twitter