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Liberty defeats Queens, 73-53, clinches share of ASUN regular-season title

Chris Graham
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Image: Liberty Athletics

Liberty earned a share of the 2023 ASUN regular-season title, racing past Queens for a 73-53 victory on Friday evening in front of a Liberty Arena-record crowd of 4,041 fans.

The Flames finish the regular season with a 24-7 overall record and 15-3 ASUN mark. Liberty shares the ASUN regular season title with Kennesaw State (23-8, 15-3 ASUN).

In five years in the ASUN, the Flames have shared the ASUN regular season crown three times (2019, 2020, 2023), won the outright title once (2021) and claimed a division title (East Division, 2022) one time.

Liberty will be the No. 2 seed for the upcoming 2023 ASUN Men’s Basketball Championship. The Flames will face either No. 7 seed North Florida (14-16, 9-9 ASUN) or No. 8 seed Bellarmine (14-17, 9-9 ASUN) in the quarterfinals.

UNF and Bellarmine will square off on Monday at 7 p.m. in the first round, with the winner set to face Liberty in Tuesday’s quarterfinals at 7 p.m. Both games will be held at Liberty Arena.

The Flames’ 15 victories in conference play are their most ever in a conference season. Meanwhile, Liberty’s 24 regular season wins are the third most in school history.

Prior to Friday night’s game, the Flames honored their five-player senior class – Darius McGhee, Stephen Burggraf, Blake Preston, Kyle Rode and Shiloh Robinson – with a special ceremony. The program also honored managers Joshua Street and Tyler Czock.

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Chris Graham

Chris Graham

Chris Graham is the founder and editor of Augusta Free Press. A 1994 alum of the University of Virginia, Chris is the author and co-author of seven books, including Poverty of Imagination, a memoir published in 2019. For his commentaries on news, sports and politics, go to his YouTube page, TikTok, BlueSky, or subscribe to Substack or his Street Knowledge podcast. Email Chris at [email protected].