– stock.adobe.com)
Liberty nearly erased a 13-point deficit to Western Kentucky before falling 70-68 to the Hilltoppers in the Flames’ Conference USA opener Saturday night at E.A. Diddle Arena.
Liberty (11-5, 0-1 C-USA) trailed 65-52 with 4:42 remaining before going on a 16-5 run to close within two, 70-68. The Flames had a chance to win it in the closing seconds but came up short on a pair of three-point attempts.
Zach Cleveland scored a career-high 23 points for the Flames and added seven rebounds.
With the game tied 44-44 with 12:36 remaining, WKU (12-3, 1-0 C-USA) scored 21 of the next 29 points over a course of 7:54 to build its biggest lead of the night, 65-52. The 21-8 Hilltoppers run was punctuated by a Dontaie Allen three-point with 4:42 left for a 65-52 WKU lead.
Liberty chipped away at the lead, getting it to single digits at 65-58 lead with a Kyle Rode three at the 4:06 mark. Over the final 4:42, WKU made only one field goal and was 3-of-7 from the line.
The Flames got within three, 69-66, after a Brody Peebles three at the 1:18 mark. The Hilltoppers’ Rodney Howard split a pair of free throws with 26 seconds left for a four-point home lead before Colin Porter’s driving layup sliced the WKU lead to two, 70-68.
WKU’s Tyrone Marshall missed both free throws with 12 seconds left. With no timeouts, the Flames got off two three-pointers, with Peebles’ triple from the corner missing first, followed by a missed desperation three from Kaden Metheny as time expired.
“I’m proud of our group for their effort,” Liberty coach Ritchie McKay said. “We have a terrific group of young men and didn’t get the desired outcome tonight. I love our character and love our ability to respond to adversity. It certainly was a dose of reality how good this conference is. I feel like we got better tonight even though we didn’t win. I think it’s an indication that our group is tough-minded (on the comeback effort). We got some good looks.”
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Chris Graham
