Liberty Men’s Basketball Opens Season, Obliterates Regent 85-24
“It is two in a row to the NCAA Tournament for the Liberty Flames, back-to-back ASUN Champions,” ESPN’s Jon Crispin announced following Liberty’s victory over Lipscomb in the 2020 ASUN Tournament. Liberty obviously never went to the tournament — no one did. However, while we have already seen the team back and even in the NCAA tournament, we have not seen fans back in full force – until now.
Liberty faced Regent Nov. 11, winning 85-24 and annihilating the Royals. The win could not have been sweeter for the Flames fans — most of whom were unable to watch their team play in person since March 8, 2020.
The Flames’ sparkling new home, the Liberty Arena, was home to Flames basketball games last season, but there were never more than a few hundred fans simply due to COVID-19 capacity restrictions.
Without restrictions this season, Flames fans showed up to the season opener in droves.
With attendance at 4,034 fans, it set a new attendance record — 34 over the arena’s listed capacity of 4,000.
So, how would Flames fans respond with many being in the new arena for the first time, at their first Liberty basketball game in nearly two years? With energy.
The decibels were cranked up in the Liberty Arena as a chorus of Flames fans screamed for their team, right from the opening basket by Shiloh Robinson.
Liberty launched out to a 14-0 lead with reigning ASUN Player of the Year Darius McGhee draining 3-pointers, and Blake Preston posterizing Regent’s defense with a thunderous dunk.
Regent could not cope with the Flames’ pack-line defense and the noise in the arena. The Royals shot 6-31 in the first half, allowing Liberty to stretch its lead to 43-12 going into halftime.
Things continued to get worse for the Royals and better for the Flames, and the lead ballooned in the second half. The Flames shot 40% as a team from the 3-point line and nearly 57% overall.
Liberty was aided by a stellar bench. Making their collegiate debuts, Brody Peebles and Joseph Venzant both garnered rousing applause.
Peebles, who put up over 3,000 points in his high school career, came off the bench to score 10 points, three rebounds and an assist.
Venzant gradually started to impact the game and turned it up a notch in the second half. He effectively demonstrated his athleticism with his final play of the evening. Guard Isiah Warfield stole the ball, racing down the floor before floating the ball to Venzant, who dunked the alley-oop with force, sending the arena into pandemonium.
Head Coach Ritchie McKay praised Peebles and Venzant’s performances after the game. “I really think Joseph and Brody have a chance to be really special players… I thought their minutes were valuable,” McKay said.
The final score of 85-24 was truly representative of how the game went. Regent’s total of 24 points is the lowest amount of points that the Flames have allowed in a game.
It is a little difficult to fully analyze the game because Liberty was so good and Regent was the opposite, but two players in particular were vital for the Flames’ success.
McGhee finished the night with 21 points, which was only three less than Regent’s total of 24. He was happy with the result.
“I think tonight went great,” McGhee said. “It’s always great when you go out there and compete as a unit.”
Kyle Rode chipped in with three points, seven assists and eight rebounds, with many more plays that do not show up on the stat sheet. McKay noted how valuable Rode is to the team.
“It’s just who he is,” McKay said. “There’s nights where he could score 20, there’s nights where he’ll take two shots… he really cares about winning the game.“
Ultimately, this was a dominant team win for the Flames. Now, they travel to Baton Rouge to take on LSU. The Tigers beat the Flames 74-57 last year, and they will be looking to avenge that loss Nov. 15 at 7 p.m. on ESPNU.
Randle is the sports editor. Follow him on Twitter.