Five Flames scored in double figures, including Jesse Sander who had a team-leading 19, as the Liberty Men's Basketball team spoiled PC's Senior Night, defeating the Blue Hose, 77-64, in front of a season-high 2,300 fans at Templeton Center tonight in Clinton, S.C.
PC, which dropped to 11-14 overall and 5-10 in the Big South, honored Seniors Al'Lonzo Coleman, Josh Johnson, Pierre Miller and Junior Jay Reynolds in a pre-game ceremony. All four played their last game tonight at the Templeton Center.
Liberty improved to 11-16 overall and 6-9 in the league.
Following Sanders and his 19 points to go along with his team-leading six rebounds, was Antwan Burrus with 15 and John Caleb Sanders with 13. David Minaya and Tavares Speaks each had 11. Coleman led PC with 19 points and four rebounds. Miller had 15 on the night, while Khalid Mutakabbir followed it up with eight.
The Flames shot 57.1 percent for the game, including a 70.8 clip in the second half. The Blue Hose shot 54.3 percent and 62.5 in the second half. Liberty out-rebounded PC 28-15, including an 18-10 advantage on the defensive boards. Turnovers were fairly even with PC holding an 11-10 edge.
Liberty was 18-of-22 from the charity stripe while PC was just seven-of-11. The Blue Hose connected on seven-of-20 three-pointers, compared to three-of-nine for the Flames.
The first half was a close affair with five ties and five lead changes. Liberty led by seven, 11-4, with 12:57 on the clock but seven quick points by the Blue Hose, including a three-pointer by Mutakabbir, tied the game at 11-11, with 11:02 left before intermission. It was the beginning of a 12-0 run that saw PC take a five-point 16-11 lead with 9:46 to go. Liberty used an 8-3 run to tie the game for the third time at 19-19 with 6:33.
A back-and-forth battle ensued with the last tie of the half coming at 23-23 with 4:17 left in the half. The Flames took a 27-23 lead before a three-pointer by Johnson cut the margin to one, with 1:08 to go. A lay-up by Speaks with two seconds before half gave the Flames the three-point, 29-26 lead, at intermission.
Tied 33-33 with 18:01 left in the game, Liberty opened up an eight-point, 43-35 lead with 13:45 remaining, off a10-2 run, and never looked back.
The Flames led by 11, 59-48 at 7:08, before the Blue hose cut the margin to six off five unanswered points before a three-pointer by Sanders (John Caleb) stopped the run at 5:46. The Blue Hose couldn't get any closer as the Flames answered PC shot for shot down the stretch.
PC cut the lead to nine with 44 seconds remaining but four straight Liberty free throws ended the rally as the Flames came away with the 77-64 win.
PC is on the road at Winthrop, Tuesday, Feb. 14. Tip-off is at 7 p.m. and can be heard on WLBG 860-AM with the pregame show starting at 6:30 p.m. The game will also be streamed live on www.BigSouthSports.com for a nominal fee as part of the Big South Network presented by State Farm.
