Flames Best Gardner-Webb, 68-57

Team	1	2	F
Gardner-Webb	20	37	57
Liberty	26	42	68

Gardner-Webb

Liberty

Senior Kyle Ohman became the Liberty men's basketball program's 21st member of its 1,000-point club Thursday night, as the Flames defeated Gardner-Webb inside the Vines Center, 68-57.

Coming off a narrow loss to Winthrop on Saturday, Liberty maintained its place in the top half of the Big South standings with the win, improving to 4-2 in conference play.

Gardner-Webb lit up the scoreboard first, when Jonathan Moore hit a trey to take the early 3-0 lead 25 seconds into the contest. The Flames responded with a 7-0 run, thanks to baskets from Antwan Burrus, Kyle Ohman and Evan Gordon for a 7-3 Liberty at 17:20.

The Runnin' Bulldogs halted the burst with 14:51 remaining, when Grayson Flittner found C.J. Hailey alone under the basket for the layup, cutting Liberty's lead to a pair, 7-5. Gardner-Webb then regained the lead, 8-7, at 13:32 with a Grayson Flittner three-pointer.

The visiting team's advantage was short-lived, as Jeremy Anderson netted a trey of his own, giving the Flames a 10-8 edge at 12:46. The Runnin' Bulldogs knotted the contest at 10 just 15 seconds later on an Auryn MacMillan layup.

Liberty created some breathing room for itself over the next 3:16, with buckets from Chris Perez and Jesse Sanders, giving Liberty a 14-10 advantage at 9:15.

Following a made free throw by Gardner-Webb's Stefon Johnson, Gordon netted another layup, extending Liberty's lead to five, 16-11 at 8:16.

Gardner-Webb erased the deficit at the 7:00 mark, as a Johnson layup knotted the contest at 16. The Runnin' Bulldogs regained the advantage with a basket by Anton Silver, making it 18-16 with 6:18 remaining.

Carter McMasters tied the contest at 18, just 23 ticks later on a fast break. The Flames then tacked on four more points, courtesy of baskets from Burrus and Sanders to take a 22-18 edge at 3:58.

Ohman joined Liberty's exclusive 1,000 point club with 3:43 remaining in the opening half, hitting a shot at the charity stripe. With the made free throw, the senior became the 21st player to reach the milestone in school history. Upon accomplishing the feat, Ohman netted another shot at the line, capping off a 6-0 Liberty run.

After a Gardner-Webb basket, Ohman hit a jumper at 1:37, ultimately making it 26-20 at halftime.

Ohman and Moore led all scorers at intermission with six points, followed by Gordon who finished with five.

Liberty shot 39.3 percent (11-of-28 shooting) from the field in the period, while holding the Runnin' Bulldogs to 26.7 percent (8-of-30).

The second half began with a pair of three-pointers, as Flittner netted a trey to make it a one possession game, 26-23 at 19:42.

Ohman answered nine seconds later, hitting a long jumper own to give Liberty a five-point advantage, 28-23.

Following a pair of made free throws to make it 28-25 at 19:25, Liberty went on a 15-0 tear over the next 4:37 to take a 43-25 lead. Liberty's run consisted of baskets by Konan and Burrus, as well as treys from Sanders and Ohman.

Gardner-Webb responded with four unanswered tallies to cut Liberty's lead to 14, 43-29, with 13:58 remaining in the contest.

Liberty jumped out to its largest lead of the game at 10:37, when Anderson netted a three-point basket to give the Flames a 19-point edge, 53-34.

After the Flames had held a 15 or more point advantage over the next 5:37, Gardner-Webb trimmed Liberty's lead to 14 with 5:00 left on the game clock, as Jonathan Moore sunk a trey to make it 61-47. Just over two and a half minutes later, Hailey hit a three-pointer to cut it eight, with 3:26 left in the contest, capping off an 11-0 spurt.

The Flames managed to hold off the Runnin' Bulldogs in the closing minutes, outscoring the visitors 7-4 for the 68-57 decision.

With the victory, Liberty improves to 9-9 on the season and 4-2 in Big South play. Gardner-Webb falls to 4-12 overall and 1-5 in Big South play. The Flames currently are tied for third in the conference standings, as High Point fell to Charleston Southern on the road, 73-69.

Hailey finished as the game's leading scorer, posting 18 of his 20 points in the second half.

Ohman led the Flames with 17 points, followed by Sanders (12) and Burrus (10). The sophomore point guard and freshman forward also grabbed nine boards apiece.

The Flames shot 50 percent (26-of-52) from the field for the game, while holding the Runnin' Bulldogs to 31.3 percent (20-of-64).

Liberty continues conference play on Saturday, by hosting UNC Asheville. The Bulldogs enter the contest 2-4 in the Big South after rallying to defeat VMI, 97-84, on Thursday. Tipoff for Saturday's game is slated for 7 p.m.

Gardner-Webb remains in the Commonwealth this weekend, traveling to Lexington, Va., to face the VMI Keydets. Tipoff inside Cameron Hall is set for 7 p.m.

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Team Stats

Ohman Kyle

Sanders Jesse

Burrus Antwan

Gordon Evan