Liberty holds on for dramatic 81-79 win over Kennesaw State

In a thrilling contest March 14, the Liberty University Men’s Basketball team fought off No. 4 seed Kennesaw State University in an electrifying 81-79 Conference USA (CUSA) semifinals victory at the Von Braun Center in Huntsville, Alabama.  

The Owls entered Friday’s game as one of the hottest teams in the CUSA, with wins over Liberty and Jacksonville State University ending their regular season. In this game, however, the Owls were no match for the Flames’ redshirt senior guard Kaden Metheny who scored 16 of Liberty’s final 24 points and propelled the Flames into the championship game.  

“Liberty did enough to win the game. Coach McKay is an awesome coach,” KSU Head Coach Antoine Pettway said. “They got really, really good players. Metheny made big shot after big shot. I thought they responded when they needed to. That’s a championship level group.” 

The Flames trailed in the game for more than 36 minutes. After opening the game 2-5 from the field and 0-1 from beyond the arc, the Flames’ cold stretch continued to haunt them throughout the first half. Liberty was down by 10 at the 11:38 mark, and the stretch worsened when the Flames did not score a single point for over two minutes of action.

This gave KSU a 14-point cushion and was the most the Flames have trailed all season. Both units’ scoring continued to diminish, with multiple turnovers and missed shots throughout the closing minutes. Liberty went to the locker room down 40-31 at halftime. 

Returning to the court, the Flames slowly began to chip away the deficit, but the Owls were relentless, continuing to boost their own score.  

A late surge in the second half featuring junior guard Colin Porter, redshirt senior guard Taelon Peter, Metheny and junior forward Owen Aquino was enough to bring the Flames within striking distance in the game’s final minutes. Peter slammed home a fast break dunk with 29 seconds left in the half as the Flames held off the Owls to end the game.   

“We haven’t trailed that long all season,” Liberty Head Coach Ritchie McKay said. “To be down … for 36 plus minutes, (I’m) incredibly proud of our group’s resiliency. … They had a belief, and Colin Porter … believed the whole game. When you’ve got a point guard like him, you’ve got a chance to have a special season, and that’s been the case for us.” 

Liberty’s last comeback win after trailing by 14 or more points was to the University of North Carolina Asheville in the Big South Championship Semifinal, in March 2018, when the Flames came back and won 69-64.  

In the second half, the Flames shot 57.1% from the field and 44.4% from behind the arc, which was noticeably different from their play in the first half.

“I think that experience (a comeback win) is really valuable,” McKay said. “… I think anytime you solve that equation, you can make a deposit in the confidence bank that you can do it again.”  

The bright spots for the Owls were freshman guard Adrian Wooley, freshman forward Braedan Lue and junior guard Simeon Cottle, who combined for 55 of the team’s 79 points.  

The Flames had three of their five starters finish the evening with double digits in the point column. Porter, Metheny and junior forward Zach Cleveland ended with 15, 24 and 11, respectively, for a total of 50 points.  

“I just saw a couple go in, and my confidence went up a little bit,” Metheny said. “I kind of started handling the ball a little bit, and Zach was setting some good screens. But, that’s just a testament to my teammates just trusting me and having confidence in me to make the next one. The shots never happened just by myself. It was the little details throughout the possession that got me open.”  

After defeating the Owls, the Flames are now 2-0 in the CUSA championship tournament and will advance to the finals. Their next contest will be against the Jax State Gamecocks Saturday, March 15 at 8:30 p.m. EST on CBS Sports Network.  

Clingman is a sports reporter for the Liberty Champion.