Sanders Triple-Double Paces LU Victory

Jesse Sanders tallied the first triple-double in Liberty's Division I era, as the freshman tallied 10 points, dished out 10 assists and pulled down 10 rebounds, pacing the Liberty Flames (18-8, 9-5 BSC) past the Presbyterian Blue Hose(10-14, 7-6 BSC), Monday night, inside the Vines Center, 69-48.

Liberty's victory pushes its record 10 games over .500 for the first time since Feb. 8, 1997. Liberty defeated Winthrop, 66-63, pushing their record at the time to 17-7. Liberty went on to go 23-9 that season.

The Flames also held its second straight opponent under 50 points. The last time Liberty held two straight opponents to 50 points or less was the 1992-93 season. The game also marked the third time this season a Liberty opponent scored under 50 points. The last time a Flames team accomplished such a feat was during the 1984-85 campaign, when seven opponents were held under 50 markers.

After Presbyterian went 0-of-16 from three-point range inside the Vines Center last season against Liberty, it took the Blue Hose all of seven seconds to tab their first trey of the night, courtesy of Josh Johnson at 19:53, staking Presbyterian to an early 3-0 lead.

However, Liberty allowed only one more three-pointer the remainder of the contest on a second half trey by Al'Lonzo Coleman. After Johnson's bucket, Liberty quickly built a 25-9 lead. Johnny Stephene hit the back end of a two-shot foul, capping a 25-6 run at the 8:45 mark. During the run, Seth Curry hit three straight three-point buckets and Kyle Ohman added a trifecta of his own.

A Brolin Floyd jumper at 5:54 gave Liberty its largest advantage of the first half at 17 points, 32-15. Presbyterian bounced back, scoring 10 straight points, pulling within seven markers, 32-25. Aaron Gibbs tallied four points and Johnson capped the run with a bucket with one minute remaining.

After an Ohman bucket, Travis Sligh was fouled by Anthony Smith with 15 seconds left. Sligh hit both attempts from the charity stripe, sending the Blue Hose into the intermission down seven points, 34-27.

Liberty cooled down on the offensive end in the first half after their big run to open the stanza, connecting on 41.9 percent (13-of-31), including 50.0 percent (4-of-8) from beyond the arc.
Presbyterian hit only 39.3 percent (11-of-28) of its attempts, including only 12.5 percent (1-of-8) from three-point land.

The Flames shot out of the gate in the second half, quickly extending its lead to 15 points, 44-29, via a 10-2 spurt. Ohman's three-pointer at 15:28 completed the streak. Just like in the first half after a big Liberty run, Presbyterian battled back, whittling its deficit down to seven points, 46-39, courtesy of 10 straight points. An old-fashioned three-point play by Johnson capped the run at 8:57.

Smith took a Sanders' dime and certified the trey at 4:39, pushing the Liberty advantage back to 15 points, 58-43. Smith's bucket finished off another Liberty run which stood in their favor, 12-4.

Sanders recorded his 10th helper on the night after Curry picked Gibbs' pocket at 1:57. Curry found Sanders in transition, who then zipped a bullet to Smith. The senior dunked it home at 1:53, giving Liberty a 20 point advantage, 67-47.

Sanders layup at 1:36 secured the triple-double for the freshman and gave the Flames a 22 point lead, 69-48. Kevin Davis managed to hit one free throw at 1:25, bringing the score to its final 21 point differential, 69-48.

Liberty finished the contest hitting 40.0 percent (22-of-55) of its shots, while sinking an impressive 53.3 percent (8-of-15) from beyond the arc. The rebound war was a virtual lock at 37, marking the fifth straight contest Liberty has not been outrebounded by its opponent.

Sanders' triple-double marked career highs for the freshman in assists (10) and rebounds (10), while four of his caroms were of the offensive variety. Sanders committed no turnovers for the seventh time this season, while also blocking two shots and grabbing one steal.

Curry tallied a game-high 22 points on 4-of-6 from beyond the arc, while pulling down five rebounds and dishing out three assists. Curry's performance pushed him past George Sweet (524) as Liberty's highest scoring freshman. Sweet set the mark in 1973, the first year of the program. Curry now has 527 points on the season. Ohman added 12 points and Smith chipped in 10 markers in the win.

Freshman Austin Smith came off the bench to help in the winning cause, tallying eight points and grabbing three rebounds.

Presbyterian finished the game connecting on 32.7 percent (17-of-52) from the floor, including 16.7 percent (2-of-12) from beyond three-point land. The Blue Hose, in its last two visits to the Vines Center, shot 7.1 percent (2-of-28) from three-point land.

Coleman led the Blue Hose with 13 points and seven rebounds, before fouling out at the 2:54 mark in the game. Johnson added 10 points, before receiving his disqualifying fifth personal at the 2:28 mark.

Liberty returns to action on Saturday, when they venture out on their "Beach Tour", starting at Charleston Southern. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m.

Presbyterian will travel to Winthrop on Saturday for a 2 p.m. tilt, inside the Winthrop Coliseum.

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Sanders Triple-Double Paces LU Victory

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Team Stats

Seth Curry

Kyle Ohman

Anthony Smith

Jesse Sanders