The Liberty University Men’s Basketball team picked up its second win to open the 2025-26 season defeating the University of Charleston 90-75 in Game 1 of the Field of 68 Media Network Tip-Off Event Nov. 7 in Liberty Arena.
Intensity grew after tipoff as redshirt senior guard JJ Harper got the Flames on the board, dunking off an assist from senior guard Colin Porter.
Porter was the leading scorer of the night draining 23 points, rivaling his career-high of 25 points.
A few moments later, senior forward Zach Cleveland brought the ball down on a rebound and passed to redshirt freshman forward Ryan Jones Jr. who found the net from the 3-point line, lifting Liberty to a 5-0 lead.
The Cougars notched a floater of their own to land on the board, but the Flames returned the favor as sophomore guard Brett Decker Jr. knocked in another 2 points.
The Cougars earned back-to-back 2-pointers to start closing the gap before finding a three from the arc to get within one of the Flames, 12-11.
In a heated defensive battle, freshman forward Drew Grimes stole the ball, racing down the court while dodging Charleston defenders. Grimes passed the ball to senior forward Zander Yates, who extended the Flames’ lead to 15-11 with a layup as the fans roared in excitement.
Charleston was not deterred as they responded with 7 more points, taking the lead 18-15 over the next two minutes of play.
Porter put the Flames back on top with two layups as he fought around Charleston guards. After the Cougars collected 2 more points, Porter and Decker, on two separate drives into Charleston traffic, earned a combined 4 points to bring the Flames up 23-20.
“I think Zach Cleveland was the first one to notice how they were playing,” Porter said. “So he was like, ‘Just get the ball up top,’ and I went straight. … It was good to touch the paint, and a lot of good things flow behind that.”
After some back-and-forth from both teams, graduate student guard Kaden Metheny drove the ball up the middle and straight into the net for another set of points. Metheny followed a Cougars free throw with a 3-pointer, assisted by Cleveland for 32-25.
Cleveland found his second consecutive double-double during Friday’s competition.
“When you got Kaden, Brett, Colin, JJ on the floor at the same time and Zach Cleveland — I guess he was close to a triple-double — that’s a tough lineup to defend,” Head Coach Ritchie McKay said after the game.
Each team put their offense on overdrive for the final two minutes of the first half, but the Flames remained in the lead 39-34.
The Flames finished the job in the second half, putting 51 points on the board to seal their win.
Both teams tallied 4 points to begin the second half 43-38. Metheny broke the cycle by draining another 3-pointer, giving the Flames and their fans the energy to keep the momentum alive.
Cleveland, Metheny and Decker kept the ball moving in another chaotic round in the paint, ultimately landing in Decker’s possession at the top of the 3-point line. The shot was successful from the sophomore, and following a pair of free throws from Cleveland, the Flames pushed their lead to 73-57.
The Flames led Charleston in double digits for the final seven minutes. Dunks from Cleveland and Harper coupled with another 3-pointer from Metheny highlighted Liberty’s offense as the team took its second win in a row 90-75.
“As you can probably tell, this is a fairly selfless team,” McKay said. “It’s kind of how I think our program has continued to grow and evolve.”
The Flames closed out the Field of 68 competition with a win against Florida Atlantic University 88-68 to start the season 3-0. The Flames will be back at Liberty Arena Nov. 17 to face Carolina University at 7 p.m. EST. The game can be streamed on ESPN+.
Warden is the opinion editor for the Liberty Champion.