Top seed Liberty opened the ASUN Tournament with a 69-59 win over #8 seed Kennesaw State on Thursday.
As can happen in March, the Flames (21-5) opened up a bit tight, missing 15 of their first 20 shots from the field, and needing a 13-7 run at the end of the first half to go into the break all square at 23-23.
Liberty’s offense picked up the pace to open the second half, going on a 16-4 run in the first seven and a half minutes of the half, sparked by Kyle Rode scoring 10 of the 16 points during that run.
Darius McGhee led the Flames with 16 points, and became the 30th player in program history to score 1,000 career points.
“Very fortunate to advance to the next round,” Liberty coach Ritchie McKay said. “Postseason play is always really difficult. I anticipated maybe being a little nervous; only Elijah (Cuffee) and Darius have had much postseason experience, and I thought those two and Kyle weathered the storm.”
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