Charleston Southern defeats Liberty, 87-82

By Chris Lang
Lynchburg News & Advance
Published: February 19, 2008

CHARLESTON, S.C. - Ritchie McKay, Brad Soucie and Jason Eaker were all exhausted at the end of Sunday’s practice. McKay, Liberty’s head coach, and two of his assistant coaches spent the evening simulating Charleston Southern’s perimeter players.
The coaches would weave in and out of traffic, perform handoff after handoff at the top of the key and eventually, launch a 3-pointer. That’s what the Flames coaching staff prepared the team for Monday night.

Preparation is one thing. Execution is another. And as the Bucs drilled 3 after 3 in the second half to rally from a seven-point deficit and secure an 87-82 victory, all McKay could think about was Sunday’s practice.

“They shoot, that’s how they win games,“ McKay said. “(LU’s defenders) had their hands down.“

The Bucs (9-17, 3-8 Big South) hit 9 of 16 3s after halftime, including five straight at one point. What bothered McKay was that so many of the shots came with no hands in the face of the shooter until the ball was already in the air. Charleston Southern, buoyed with confidence after a comeback win over High Point here Saturday night, got into a serious second-half groove, one Liberty couldn’t counter.

“At home, it’s easy to get in a rhythm, especially if you’re a good 3-point shooting team,“ said Flames guard Kyle Ohman, who scored 14 points and grabbed six rebounds. “They were hitting some pretty hard shots. I think we should have done better.“

Liberty (14-13, 6-6) wasted a 20-point, 12-rebound effort from point guard TeeJay Bannister, and more importantly, missed a chance to move alone into third place in the Big South standings. After Coastal Carolina beat High Point Monday night in Conway, Liberty stands in a three-way tie with HPU and CCU for third.

The Flames, who play their final two games at home, will lock up a home game in the conference tournament with two victories. The Flames would own tiebreakers over both Coastal and VMI if they win out. LU also would win a three-way tie with CCU and High Point.

“It seems like when we start having some success and getting some wins, we come back and we don’t perform,“ Ohman said. “We did the same thing with Winthrop (last week). Basically, we’re not capitalizing on our opportunities.“

Liberty led by seven with 17:31 left in the second half, but CSU quickly rallied thanks to its stellar long-range shooting. Still, the Flames took a 65-64 lead with 5:38 left after Anthony Smith’s three-point play. CSU responded with a backbreaking 3, with Jamarco Warren hitting a heavily contested look with eight seconds left on the shot clock to put the Bucs ahead 67-65.

Liberty tied it on its next possession when Bannister snared a long rebound and hit a short jumper. But Tovi Bailey drilled a 3 at the other end to put the Bucs up 70-67 with 4:09 left, and they never trailed again.

Freshman Omar Carter scored 24 points to lead CSU. Chris Moore scored 22 and Warren added 21. Warren and Moore were a combined 9 of 16 from 3.

“I challenged our guys, because we’ve played some really poor second halves,“ CSU coach Barclay Radebaugh said. “We were up 12 at Coastal, and the lead was gone in a matter of minutes. ... I’m an emotional guy. But I was a little bit more emotional and loud than I usually am. I’ve been calm with this team, because we’re all freshmen. But honestly, I was tired of seeing those second halves.“

Smith scored 20 points for LU and Alex McLean had 17 points and 10 rebounds for his 10th double-double in his last 15 games.

McKay said he was perplexed by his team’s inability to handle prosperity. Liberty hasn’t won back-to-back games since winning four straight from Jan. 19-28, and the February has been a series of steps forwards and steps back.

“I’ve tried everything, from light practices to light shoot rounds, everything,“ McKay said. “We’ve got to figure it out.“