Cardiac Kids Steal Victory at High Point

The Liberty Flames (14-6, 5-3) scored 14 straight points over the final 1:43 to overcome a nine point deficit and escape with their second straight conference road victory, defeating the High Point Panthers (5-13, 1-7 BSC), 61-56, Tuesday night, inside the Millis Athletic Center.

The Flames scored a total of 24 points off High Point turnovers, including eight in the final minute of play to help Liberty win in the Millis Athletic Center for the first time since Jan. 31, 2004. That night, Gabe Martin led five Flames in double-figure scoring to win, 67-56.

The game started slowly, as a Eugene Harris trey at 13:33 gave High Point an early 7-2 advantage. Liberty did not get on the scoreboard until the 15:26 mark on a layup by Kyle Ohman.

Anthony Smith hit a three-point bucket at 10:00, capping an 8-2 spurt and giving the Flames a lead, 10-9. Liberty extended its lead to five points, 18-13, after back-to-back Ohman three-pointers, his second coming at 6:24.

High Point followed with six unanswered points to retake the lead, 19-18. Steadman Short tallied four points during the run, finishing it with a rebound and putback at 4:04.

The Flames struck back, scoring seven straight points to take a 25-19 advantage. Seth Curry scored five straight points to end the streak. Curry's jumper from the elbow fell through the cylinder with 59.1 seconds to cap the run.

Nick Barbour sank a three pointer, falling back from the wing with 6.7 seconds left in the first stanza to tie the game at 25-25. Barbour's bucket concluded six straight High Point markers, the final points by either team going into the intermission.

The Flames, the Big South's leading field goal shooting team, struggled from the floor in the opening period, hitting only 38.5 percent (10-of-26), including 33.3 percent (5-of-15) from three-point land.

High Point faired a little better from the floor, hitting 39.3 percent (11-of-28), including 22.2 percent (2-of-9) from three-point land.

The Panthers started the second half, much like they ended the first. High Point tallied eight straight points, six by Jourdan Morris, to open the final period.

High Point increased its lead to nine points, 39-30, on a Short bucket with 12:15 remaining. However, Liberty stormed back for a 45-43 lead, via a 15-4 run. Smith connected on two three-point buckets during the spurt and Ohman added another triple. Jesse Sanders capped the run at 8:51 with a runner in the lane.

A basket by Johnny Stephene broke a 45-45 tie and gave the Flames a 47-45 lead at 7:33. It was the last field goal Liberty would score until the game's final seconds. High Point ripped the lead away from the Flames with 11 straight points to take a nine point lead, 56-47. A dunk by Short completed the run at 2:10. After the bucket, High Point did not score again.

Liberty ran off 14 straight points to close the contest, as the Panthers did not attempt another field goal in the final two minutes. Trailing by seven points after two Smith free throws, the senior from Plano, Texas was fouled by Barbour on a three-point attempt with 64 seconds remaining.

Smith sank all three of his attempts from the charity stripe, cutting the Liberty deficit to four points. On the ensuing High Point possession, Barbour and Singleton collided and fell on top of Sanders facing a half court pressure from the visitors, causing the ball to go out of bounds to the Flames. The High Point turnover set up another three-point bucket from the wing by Smith with 36.1 seconds left to bring Liberty to within one point at 56-55.

Making the first of his three thefts in the final 25 seconds, Smith plucked the ball out of David Singleton's hands in front of the High Point bench. On the turnover, the Flames found Ohman on the far wing for a trey, which the junior hit to give Liberty a two point lead, 58-56.

Smith followed the triple by snaring the ball from Singleton with 10 seconds, and Seth Curry scored a bucket in transition putting Liberty up by four, 60-56 with 4.7 ticks left on the game clock. High Point called timeout, but the Panthers turned the ball over again when Smith intercepted a Barbour pass, sealing the Liberty victory. Sanders added a free throw with 2.2 seconds left to cap the five point triumph, 61-56.

Liberty finished the contest hitting 42.3 percent (22-of-52) of its shots, including 37.9 percent (11-of-29) of its attempts from beyond the arc.

Smith scored 19 second half points and finished with 24. The total allowed the senior to pass Matt Hildebrand (1,515) for 10th all-time on the Liberty scoring list. Smith finished the game one point ahead of Hildebrand (1,516) and is the fourth-highest Division I scorer in program history. Ohman added to the Liberty effort with a team-high 11 points in the first half and finished with 19 points on 7-of-12 shooting, including the game-winning three-pointer. Ohman also pulled down seven rebounds. Curry chipped in nine points in the win.

Liberty was outrebounded, 42-29, but were only outscored in second chance points, 12-6.

High Point shot 50.0 percent (15-of-30) in the second half, finishing the game at a 44.8 percent (26-of-58) clip, including 18.8 percent (3-of-16) from beyond the arc.

Morris scored a team-high 15 points on 7-of-11 shooting, while Short added 14 points and six rebounds. Harris chipped in 11 points, all in the first half. Singleton led all players with 11 caroms and dished out eight assists, but turned the ball over eight times as well.

Liberty returns to action on Saturday when the Radford Highlanders invade the Vines Center. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m., and the game will be broadcast on the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network.

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Cardiac Kids Steal Victory at High Point

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Team Stats

Anthony Smith

Kyle Ohman

Seth Curry

Jesse Sanders