Liberty snapped Bellarmine’s four-game winning streak at home, defeating the Knights, 66-53, Thursday afternoon on the road at Historic Freedom Hall.
Liberty improves to 16-7 overall and 7-1 in conference while Bellarmine drops to 13-10 and 7-2 in the ASUN.
The Flames had four players score double figures, led by Shiloh Robinson posting his first career double-double with a game-high 17 points and 12 rebounds.
How it happened
Liberty started the game on an 8-0 run, forcing Bellarmine to miss its first six shots of the game. Liberty’s defense was exceptional to start the game as the Knights made only one shot in its first 10 attempts while Liberty’s offense started the game 5-10 from the field, as Keegan McDowell scored seven of Liberty’s first 13 points of the game. After Liberty held a 13-3 lead, the Knights would go on an 11-3 run to get back into the game with 7:43 left in the game. Bellarmine would end the half on a 19-9 run over the last 10 minutes to go into the break tied at 25-25.
Once again Liberty got off to a good start to open the second half, going on a 7-0 run to start the half and take the lead. The Flames started the half making four of its first five shots as Liberty held a seven-point lead (45-38) at the 11:44-mark. Liberty’s defense was stingy all throughout the second half, forcing Bellarmine to shoot 37 percent (10-27) from the field and 18 percent (2-11) from three-point range in the final half. Liberty made it a double-digit lead with 3:30 left in the game and the Flames never relinquished their double-digit lead to come away with the win.
Game notes
- Liberty has won its seventh straight ASUN road game, which is a program record.
- Darius McGhee has now scored 509 points this season, becoming the first Liberty player since 2013 (John Caleb Sanders) to score 500 points in a single season.
- McGhee moved to No. 26 on Liberty’s all-time assists list with 229 career assists, passing Anthony Smith and TeeJay Banniester.
- Liberty had four players score double figures led by Shiloh Robinson with 17 points.
- Robinson posted his first career double-double with 17 points and a career-high 12 rebounds.
- Bellarmine’s 53 points was the fewest points Bellarmine has ever scored in an ASUN game.
- Liberty held Bellarmine to 35 percent (20-57) while shooting 44 percent (22-50) from the floor.
Postgame: Ritchie McKay
“Man, I am really proud of our team. That is a hard place to win, and it was a really physical game from start-to-finish, and you have the usual eb-and-flow of a Bellarmine game. They (Bellarmine) will get behind, but they are so tough, and I have so much respect for them, and they always come back. We were waning a little late in the first half but Kyle’s (Rode) and-one and Darius’ (McGhee) three-pointer to make it even was a really important stretch.”
Next up
Liberty will close out its three-game road trip on Saturday, Feb. 5, at Eastern Kentucky. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. and can be seen on ESPN+.
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