Triple-digit affair in the Vines
WE WANT THE DUNK — “There’s a real type of thing going down. There’s a whole lot of dunks going ’round.” A mid-air pass from John Brown allowed Antwan Burrus to slam home this two-handed jam. The dunk made SportsCenter’s No. 8 play.
Virginia Military Institute’s operational order for Thursday’s game was simple: outshoot Liberty. Win. What they didn’t expect was a battery of long-range missiles tagged David Minaya, Gordon Evan and Jeremy Anderson and a hand-grenade point guard classified Jesse Sanders. In Liberty’s first home game back in front of a freshly returned, raucous student body, Liberty stunted the nation’s leading offense (92.7 ppg) with efficient, clean defense and lethal 3-point shooting, all en route to a 100-82 victory.
“I don’t think we could have played much better offensively,” head coach Dale Layer said, citing Liberty’s low turnover ratio, high shooting percentage and barrage of three-pointers.
Give ‘Em the D
Liberty entered the contest boasting statistically the best defense in the Big South, holding opponents under 64 points per game. Sanders attributed the Flames defense to simple tenacity.
“We’re trying to lock down on the defensive end,” Sanders said. “We’re trying to be the toughest team every time we step out on the court, no matter (who we are playing). We may not always be the biggest or the most talented, but we always want to be the toughest team.”
In Thursday night’s contest, that defense wobbled early as guard Austin Kenon ripped off VMI’s first 8 points, but tightened down the stretch into halftime. Gordon was given the responsibility of pestering arguably the Big South’s Player of the Year in Kenon — a daunting task, given that Kenon was the 23rd leading scorer in the country as of Thursday. The Flames defense held VMI to its par 6-14 3-point shooting in the first half, but allowed nothing significantly more than that, forcing only a 46 percent Keydet field goal percentage. The Flames trotted into the locker room at halftime up 42-33, thanks to dominating paint-work by John Brown and Minaya’s smooth jumper.
“M” for Momentum
At the 14-minute mark in the second half, a game that had stayed within a couple of possessions for the majority of the first half broke open when Liberty center Antwan Burrus dished out to Minaya who hit a three to put the Flames up by nine. The 4,488 in attendance ignited, as did the Flames offense. Layups by Sanders, free throws by Gordon, and back-to-back, crowd-riling Anderson 3-pointers and more work in the lane by Sanders and Burrus swelled the lead to 17. Liberty’s advantage peaked to a solid 20 points courtesy of the Burrus Express slamming a vicious, highlight reel dunk, dished mid-air by Brown.
“You feed off that (fan support),” Sanders said. “(It was) a great team win.”
Numbers Game
Minaya had a career night against the Keydets, tallying a season-high 22 points, including lethal 75 percent 3-point shooting and 9-13 overall field-goal shooting. His contribution pushed the Flames to their first triple-digit game of the season. The Flames last 100 plus game came in January of 2009 against VMI in Cameron hall.
“For David to make some shots is a direct result of his hard work,” Layer said. “You can’t emphasize that. You don’t just show up here and make shots; it’s just great to see him rewarded for his tireless work.”
The win lifts the Flames to a program best 8-1 in Big South play and 14-7 overall.
Liberty continues conference play against UNC Asheville on Jan. 27at the Vines Center.