Liberty falls to Kennesaw in final seconds of ASUN Championship

The Liberty Flames men’s basketball season has come to an end. 

After going 26-7 this season and defeating 15 of their 18 conference opponents, the Flames lost the one that mattered most in the end. In the ASUN Championship Finals, the Flames NCAA Tournament hopes were shattered by a last second free throw from the newly crowned ASUN Champions, the Kennesaw State Owls. 

“Congratulations to Kennesaw,” Flames Head Coach Ritchie McKay said. “They were a tough out today, had a great crowd, pretty good college basketball game. I’m disappointed that we didn’t advance to the NCAA Tournament, that’s something that our program has had the blessing of participating in, and it’s a lifelong memory when you make it there. But again, Kennesaw deserved it, and I’m really proud of our group, though. I think this is as resilient of a team as we’ve had, and I think there might be some more basketball left for us.”

By all accounts, this game was meant to be a close contest, and it lived up to those expectations. Over the 40 minutes of play, there were nine lead changes and 10 times when the two teams were tied, the most crucial of which came with just 23 seconds remaining when freshman guard Colin Porter drilled a beauty of a 3-pointer to knot it up at 66. 

After that play, the Owls owned possession of the ball and a tie game. Owl’s senior and superstar guard Terrell Burden brought the ball up the court and slowed the game down as he prepared to take the last shot of the game. Defending him at the top of the key was junior guard and lockdown defender Isiah Warfield. 

Burden took his time, sizing up Warfield while waiting for his moment. Then, after some off-ball action cleared some space, Burden attacked. In a blindingly quick sequence, he hesitated at the 3-point line and crossed over to his left hand, forcing Warfield into an awkward position. Immediately after, he drove like a bat out of hell to his left and attempted to hit a shot floater or runner. Warfield was able to stay with Burden and proceeded to block the shot with his right hand.

Reading just that, you would believe that the Flames had forced overtime and had a shot at defeating the Owls. But the problem with that summary is that this writer forgot to mention what Warfield’s left hand was doing while his right was blocking what could’ve been a game winner. 

Warfield’s left hand made contact with Burden on the shot, and instead of a block that would send the ASUN Finals into overtime, Burden would shoot two with just seven tenths of a second remaining on the clock. 

Whether or not the contact by Warfield was enough to warrant a foul call, that is for you to decide. The officials viewed it as more than enough to warrant the call, and Burden was sent to the line. Burden, with the pressure of sending his team to the NCAA Tournament for the first time ever, hit the first shot. The Owls took the lead, 67-66. 

He missed the next shot, but the damage was done. The Flames were vanquished, and the Owls were taking their talents to the NCAA tournament. 

“If it was a foul, it’s a foul. I thought it was,” McKay said. “It’s a long game to lose on a free throw, but it’s part of sports.”

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