Liberty and Iona went toe-to-toe in a game that had 13 lead changes and was tied seven times, but in the end the Gaels defeated the Flames, 54-50.
Liberty is now 1-2 on the year while Iona improves to 4-0.
Liberty would end up going on an 18-1 run from the 15:09 mark until the 6:31 mark, as the Flames built a 23-7 lead.
Iona was able to respond with a 15-2 run themselves to make it 25-23 in Liberty’s favor at halftime.
In the second half the game saw nine lead changes, and the score was tied seven times. Iona’s Quinn Slazinski and Nelly Joseph led the way scoring 20 of Iona’s 31 points in the second half. Liberty was able to take a 50-46 lead with 3:35 left in the game, but Iona was able to come back and retake the lead with 1:49 left in the game and hold on for the win.
Darius McGhee led Liberty with 12 points.
“Tough loss,” Liberty coach Ritchie McKay said. “Our offense is struggling a little bit. Darius is now 4-22 from three his last two games and we are not used to seeing that. Their (Iona) length can bother you and I felt like we did a way better job of taking care of the ball and giving them some good looks. We didn’t do a good enough job on the glass; two consecutive games we have been beaten with 21 of our own turnovers and 15 offensive rebounds and those are statistics that are important to us, so we have got to get better.”
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