Liberty opens ASUN play with win at Florida Gulf Coast

Liberty went on the road to play its first-ever ASUN Conference game as they took on the defending regular season champion, Florida Gulf Coast.

The Flames got hot on offense in the second half to defeat the Eagles 81-63, for the Flames’ first-ever win in the ASUN. Liberty improves to 12-4 while FGCU drops to 5-11.

“Our guys imposed their will midway through the second half. Florida Gulf Coast is a really good team and it is hard to come in and win at Alico Arena so this is a good start for us in a new league,” Liberty coach Ritchie McKay said. “We had a great crowd for us. Shout out to the women’s swimming & diving team and our women’s basketball team. We can’t their coaches enough and Erin Hagen for staying and supporting us. We had a lot of friends and family in the stands tonight wearing the red and white.”

Liberty couldn’t have asked for a better start to the game, going on a 12-2 run in the first four minutes of the game. Florida Gulf Coast countered with a 12-2 run to get back into the game in the first half. After going into halftime with a six-point lead (36-30), the Flames picked up their offensive attack, shooting 69 percent (18-26) in the second half including 67 percent (8-12) from three-point range.

Florida Gulf Coast cut Liberty’s lead to two points (46-44) with 15:19 left in the game and Liberty responded with a 17-6 run (63-50) over the course of the following four and half minutes to extend its lead and come away with the win.