Liberty takes over with D, defeats Tennessee State, 74-52, to improve to 8-3

Liberty stifled Tennessee State after a back-and-forth first half, holding the Tigers to 17 second-half points on the way to a 74-52 win on Wednesday.

The Flames (8-3) held Tennessee State (6-5) to 12.5 percent shooting (4-of-32) in the second half.

TSU led 35-34 going into the halftime break.

A 15-2 second-half run from the Flames put the game out of reach.

Kyle Rode led the Flames in scoring with 18 points, 16 of those coming in the second half. Rode knocked down four threes on the night, with his first triple being the 200th of his career.

Joseph Venzant (12 points, 11 rebounds) notched his second career double-double, and sophomore Zach Cleveland flirted with a triple-double, finishing with nine points, a career-high nine assists and eight rebounds.

“I’m proud of our effort,” Liberty coach Ritchie McKay said. “We knew Tennessee State was a dangerous team, and they really get out in transition at a breakneck pace. I felt like that was an important part of the game. I thought our response in the second half was really good. I think that could have been a detriment to our group’s confidence (the end of the first half). I thought we fought through the hard.”