Men's Hoops at Winthrop Tonight
1/3/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
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The Liberty Flames are in the midst of a nine game span where they will play seven contests away from the Vines Center. Liberty will resume Big South Conference action against the Winthrop Eagles, Saturday night, inside the Winthrop Coliseum. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.
There will be a radio broadcast, which will air on the Flames Sports Network (flagship WRVL 88.3 FM), with Jerry Edwards providing the play-by-play for his 28th season. Additionally, an Internet audio broadcast on LibertyFlames.com will be available. There will also be a live video stream of
the broadcast via the Big South EDGE, available on BigSouthSports.com.
Recent Results
The Flames enter tonight's contest with a three game winning streak after defeating Cincinnati Christian on Sunday afternoon, 86-55. Prior to Liberty's win over the Golden Eagles, The Flames won both of its neutral site games in Las Vegas, Nev., on Dec. 22-23. Liberty topped Big Sky foe Northern Colorado on Dec. 22, 75-70, behind a career-high 30 points from Seth Curry and 23 points from Anthony Smith. On Dec. 23 the Flames topped Atlantic Sun foe USC Upstate, 77-64. Smith tallied a game-high 21 points in the victory.
Both wins in Vegas came days after two heartbreaking setbacks at Saint Louis (70-73) on Dec. 19 and at DePaul (64-63) on Dec. 17. Both those games served as the opening rounds of the Findlay Toyota Las Vegas Classic. Prior to the DePaul loss, Liberty hosted a non-conference victory
over Anderson, Dec. 15, inside the Vines Center. Curry tallied 22 points in 19 minutes of action. Johnny Stephene poured in 14 points in the winning effort. Prior to the Anderson contest, Liberty dropped a heartbreaker at ACC foe Clemson, 80-75, on Dec. 7. Liberty led by 12 points with
seven minutes left in the game. K.C. River tallied a game-high 32 points for Clemson in the comeback win. Seth Curry poured in 24 points on 9-of-16 shooting in the losing effort.
Chris Summers, a wide receiver on the Liberty football team, joined the squad on Dec. 10.
Liberty in the State of Nevada
Participating this in the Findlay Toyota Las Vegas Classic on Dec. 22-23, Liberty played in the state of Nevada for the first time in program history. However, Liberty left Las Vegas still never playing a Nevada-based program.
10 Wins Prior to New Years
Liberty defeated Cincinnati Christian on Dec. 28, marking the fi rst time in program history the Flames have 10 wins before New Years. Three times the program has managed nine wins before New Years. Those seasons were 1979-80, 1983-84 and 1996-97.
Liberty vs. Winthrop
Tonight's contest marks the 29th all-time meeting between the two schools in basketball. Winthrop leads the series, 25-13. The Eagles have won eight of the last nine meetings in the series, including fi ve straight. Winthrop cruised to a 59-50 point victory in the series' last meeting. The contest was
played in the Vines Center on Feb. 12, 2008. Liberty's lone win against the Eagles in the last nine meetings was a 78-71 triumph against the first-place Eagles on Feb. 20, 2006, inside the Vines Center.
All-Time Series Results
Feb. 12, 2008 L (50-59) Lynchburg
Jan. 15, 2008 L (55-48) Rock Hill, S.C.
Feb. 6, 2007 L (76-80) Rock Hill, S.C.
Jan. 13, 2007 L (40-68) Lynchburg
Feb. 28, 2006 L (52-93) Rock Hill, S.C.
Feb. 20, 2006 W (78-71) Lynchburg
Jan. 19, 2006 L (47-67) Rock Hill, S.C.
Feb. 10, 2005 L (61-69) Lynchburg
Jan. 8, 2005 L (73-75) * Rock Hill, S.C.
Feb. 18, 2004 W (74-62) Rock Hill, S.C.
Jan. 29, 2004 W (66-50) Lynchburg
Feb. 20, 2003 L (72-84) Rock Hill, S.C.
Jan. 16, 2003 L (64-74) Lynchburg
Feb. 28, 2002 L (59-66) Roanoke, Va.
Feb. 14, 2002 L (62-69) Rock Hill, S.C.
Jan. 19, 2002 L (48-81) Lynchburg
Mar. 2, 2001 L (62-67)** Roanoke, Va.
Feb. 15, 2001 W (57-50) Lynchburg
Jan. 20, 2001 L (63-76) Rock Hill, S.C.
Feb. 5, 2000 L (63-80) Rock Hill, S.C.
Jan. 17, 2000 L (71-73) Lynchburg
Feb. 1, 1999 L (54-82) Rock Hill, S.C.
Jan. 12, 1999 L (57-73) Lynchburg
Feb. 7, 1998 L (64-65) Lynchburg
Jan. 17, 1998 W (62-52) Rock Hill, S.C.
Feb. 26, 1997 W (83-69) Lynchburg
Feb. 8, 1997 W (66-63) Rock Hill, S.C.
Jan. 18, 1997 W (70-48) Lynchburg
Feb. 24, 1996 L (77-78) * Rock Hill, S.C.
Jan. 27, 1996 L (76-77) * Lynchburg
Feb. 16, 1995 W (70-68) Lynchburg
Jan. 18, 1995 L (66-85) Rock Hill, S.C.
Feb. 16, 1994 W (81-72) Rock Hill, S.C.
Jan. 20, 1994 W (85-61) Lynchburg
Feb. 8, 1993 L (58-61) Lynchburg
Jan. 13, 1993 L (90-93) Rock Hill, S.C.
Feb. 8, 1992 W (63-52) Lynchburg
Jan. 30, 1992 W (72-58) Rock Hill, S.C.
* - Overtime Game
** - Double Overtime Game
Current Flames with Notable Games Versus Winthrop
Anthony Smith (17 points and four rebounds at WU, Jan. 15, 2008)
Anthony Smith (21 points and fi ve rebounds at WU, Feb. 6, 2007)
Anthony Smith (17 points and seven rebounds vs. WU, Feb. 20, 2006)
Curry Scores 30 Points and another Liberty First
Seth Curry scored 30 points on Dec. 22 against Northern Colorado, marking the first freshman in the Liberty Division I era to score at least 30 points. Only one other freshman in the Liberty annals has accomplished the feat and that was George Sweet during the fi rst year of the program, the 1972-73 season. Sweet tallied 30 points on the nose on three separate occasions.
Smith Eyeing the 1,000 Pt/500 Rebound Club
Anthony Smith needs 61 more rebounds to become the 36th player in Big South history to score at least 1,000 career points and grab 500 career rebounds. Smith will become the ninth player in program history to accomplish the feat and the fourth in the Division I era.
Curry Top Scoring Freshman in the Nation
Seth Curry's 26-point performance at Virginia on Nov. 25 pushed his points per game average to 22.3, bypassing the Cavaliers' Sylven Landesberg (22.0) as the nation's top scoring true freshman. Curry has held the distinction ever since and is currently the only freshman in the Top 50 in scoring
and is No. 23 overall at 20.4 ppg.
