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Liberty University
3-6, 0-2BSC
Charleston Southern
3-5, 1-1BSC
Second-Half Surge Puts Charleston Southern Over Flames
12/5/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
A game of hot streaks took place in the Vines Center, Saturday afternoon, as the Liberty men's basketball team hosted Charleston Southern. After a first half in which each team experienced big offensive surges, the Bucs came out of the gate firing in the second half to garner the 68-61 win.
The defeat marks Liberty's (3-6, 0-2 Big South) fifth straight overall, while Charleston Southern (3-5, 1-1 Big South) earns its fourth consecutive win over the Flames.
A.C. Reid led Liberty with a career-high 20 points, scoring 18 in the opening period. Entering the contest seventh in the country in field goal percentage, Evan Maxwell went 7-of-9 from the field to collect 14 points. The duo also had eight rebounds apiece. Anthony Fields rounded out Liberty's double-digit scorers with 10 tallies.
Armel Potter paced Charleston Southern with 18 points, followed by Patrick Wallace (14), Raemond Robinson (12) and Demetrius Pollard (10).
Charleston Southern finished the night shooting 46.8 percent (22-of-47), compared to 42.9 percent (25-of-57) for the Flames. Coming into the matchup averaging nearly 11 three-pointers per game, the Buccaneers hit 12 on the afternoon. Reid accounted for all five of the Flames' treys, with Liberty going 0-for-9 from long distance in the second period.
The Flames posted their second highest point total in the paint, this season, outscoring the Bucs down low, 40-10. Liberty also capitalized on second chance points, 12-4.
Although the Flames struck first with a Maxwell layup, Charleston Southern made six of its first seven shots and proceeded to outscore Liberty, 22-4, over a 7:18 span. The Bucs took advantage of Liberty's near six-minute scoring drought, while Wallace went 4-of-4 from three-point land. A Pollard layup gave the visitors a 22-6 lead at 12:19.
Still down by 16 at the 7:41 mark (28-12), the Flames flipped the script during the remaining minutes of the period, claiming the lead with an 18-0 run. With 10 of the Flames' first 12 points already, Reid added to his first-half scoring total, posting eight unanswered points off two treys and a layup. Following two Fields baskets and a Maxwell layup, Lovell Cabbil knotted the contest with two free throws. Maxwell punctuated the burst with a dunk to give the Flames a two-point edge. Charleston Southern responded with a three-pointer from Pollard to carry a 31-30 lead in the locker room at halftime.
Reid surpassed his previous career high of 16 by the end of the half, finishing with 18 points on 6-of-10 shooting and 5-of-8 from three-point land. Wallace cooled down in the latter portion of the first period after hitting a quartet of three-pointers, missing his final three attempts to close the half with 12 tallies for CSU.
Despite scoring droughts from each team, the Flames ended the stanza shooting 44 percent (11-of-25) compared to 42.3 percent (11-of-26) for the Bucs. Liberty held a 12-4 advantage in the paint, while Charleston Southern outscored the Flames from three-point range, 27-15.
Charleston Southern took advantage of a five-minute Flames scoring drought from the field to begin the second half. Robinson cemented a 10-1 surge with a three-pointer. Ezra Talbert gave Liberty its first field goal of the period, sinking a layup to make it 41-33 with 15 minutes left.
With under nine minutes to play, another Talbert layup cut the Flames' deficit to five. After the Bucs went back up by 10, baskets from Fields and Maxwell made it a six-point game with 5:41 remaining. Charleston Southern extended its lead to 13 before Liberty once again made it a five-point game with 13 ticks left. The Bucs tacked on one more basket to set up the 68-61 final.
Liberty hits the road again on Tuesday, squaring off with Furman at 7 p.m. The contest will broadcast live on ESPN3.
