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Friday, November 29
Lynchburg, Va.
4:00 PM ET
Liberty University
8-1,0-0CUSA
93
vs
36
Central Penn
0-1
1
2
F
Central Penn
21
15
36
Liberty
45
48
93
#45 Kai Yu
Flames Win 5th Straight, Knock Off Central Penn 93-36 on Friday
11/29/2024 7:04:00 PM | Men's Basketball
LYNCHBURG, Va. – The Liberty Flames won their fifth straight game, knocking off the Central Penn Knights 93-36 at Liberty Arena on Friday.
Forward Isaiah Ihnen scored a career-high 25 points on 11-of-13 shooting in the win, and he added eight rebounds and a pair of steals. Freshman guard Brett Decker Jr. matched a career high with 18 points, and Jayvon Maughmer and Taelon Peter (10 points each) both reached double figures.
Liberty improves to 8-1 through nine games. The Flames are 2-0 at home so far during the 2024-25 campaign. Central Penn falls to 1-5.
Box Score Highlights
Liberty Individuals: Isaiah Ihnen 25 points, 11-13 FG, 8 rebounds, 2 steals; Brett Decker Jr. 18 points, 5-10 FG, 4-8 3FG, 4-5 FT; Taelon Peter 10 points, 5 rebounds; Jayvon Maughmer 10 points, 4-5 FG, 4 rebounds; Kai Yu 6 points, 7 rebounds; Curtis Blair III 6 points, 4 rebounds, 2 steals
Central Penn Individuals: Dahsan King 8 points, 4-13 FG, 4 rebounds; Tyray Cooper 6 points, 4 rebounds; Riley Young 6 points, 2-5 3FG
Key Team Stats: Liberty shot 53.5 percent (38-of-71) for the game, its fourth game this season shooting above 50 percent. The Flames are 4-0 when shooting over 50 percent. Liberty hit 11 three-pointers. Central Penn shot only 28.1 percent (16-of-57) from the field and 19 percent (4-of-21) from long distance. Liberty tallied 19 assists on its 38 makes, while Central Penn notched only six assists in the contest. The Flames outrebounded the Knights 50-28, their first time grabbing 50 or more boards since collecting 56 against St. Andrews on Dec. 16, 2023. The Flames held sizeable edges in points in the paint (54-16), points off turnovers (27-4), second chance points (14-4), fast break points (20-4) and bench points (47-19). All 13 Flames who suited up today saw at least 8:32 or more of action.
Turning Point
Liberty scored on the first possession, an alley-oop feed from Colin Porter to Isaiah Ihnen for the dunk, and never trailed during the game. The Flames led 45-21 at the break and opened the second half on a 27-2 run over the first nine minutes to take a commanding 72-23 advantage. Curtis Blair III and Brett Decker Jr. capped off the impressive run with the final six points. Blair III scored on a layup at the 12:17 mark, and Decker Jr. added four points to close the run on a layup and a pair of free throws.
Key Stats & Notes
Liberty will be back at home on Dec. 7 against Mississippi Valley State (1-6). Tip time is 7 p.m. at Liberty Arena. This will be the second game of a seven-game homestand for the Flames.
The Flames are 4-0 all-time versus the Delta Devils. Last year, Liberty topped MVSU 74-39 at Liberty Arena (Dec. 5, 2023).
Forward Isaiah Ihnen scored a career-high 25 points on 11-of-13 shooting in the win, and he added eight rebounds and a pair of steals. Freshman guard Brett Decker Jr. matched a career high with 18 points, and Jayvon Maughmer and Taelon Peter (10 points each) both reached double figures.
Liberty improves to 8-1 through nine games. The Flames are 2-0 at home so far during the 2024-25 campaign. Central Penn falls to 1-5.
Box Score Highlights
Liberty Individuals: Isaiah Ihnen 25 points, 11-13 FG, 8 rebounds, 2 steals; Brett Decker Jr. 18 points, 5-10 FG, 4-8 3FG, 4-5 FT; Taelon Peter 10 points, 5 rebounds; Jayvon Maughmer 10 points, 4-5 FG, 4 rebounds; Kai Yu 6 points, 7 rebounds; Curtis Blair III 6 points, 4 rebounds, 2 steals
Central Penn Individuals: Dahsan King 8 points, 4-13 FG, 4 rebounds; Tyray Cooper 6 points, 4 rebounds; Riley Young 6 points, 2-5 3FG
Key Team Stats: Liberty shot 53.5 percent (38-of-71) for the game, its fourth game this season shooting above 50 percent. The Flames are 4-0 when shooting over 50 percent. Liberty hit 11 three-pointers. Central Penn shot only 28.1 percent (16-of-57) from the field and 19 percent (4-of-21) from long distance. Liberty tallied 19 assists on its 38 makes, while Central Penn notched only six assists in the contest. The Flames outrebounded the Knights 50-28, their first time grabbing 50 or more boards since collecting 56 against St. Andrews on Dec. 16, 2023. The Flames held sizeable edges in points in the paint (54-16), points off turnovers (27-4), second chance points (14-4), fast break points (20-4) and bench points (47-19). All 13 Flames who suited up today saw at least 8:32 or more of action.
Turning Point
Liberty scored on the first possession, an alley-oop feed from Colin Porter to Isaiah Ihnen for the dunk, and never trailed during the game. The Flames led 45-21 at the break and opened the second half on a 27-2 run over the first nine minutes to take a commanding 72-23 advantage. Curtis Blair III and Brett Decker Jr. capped off the impressive run with the final six points. Blair III scored on a layup at the 12:17 mark, and Decker Jr. added four points to close the run on a layup and a pair of free throws.
Key Stats & Notes
- Isaiah Ihnen scored 20 of his career-high 25 points in the first half. His 25 ponits came in only 15:26 of action. Ihnen is the first Flame to score 20 in half since Darius McGhee had 21 points in the second half against Eastern Kentucky on March 2, 2023. Ihnen's previous career high was 20 points, which came during his playing career at Minnesota against UTSA on Nov. 10, 2023.
- Ihnen's eight rebounds were also a season high. During the Flames' five-game winning streak, the redshirt junior from Boeblingen, Germany is averaging a team-best 15.0 points per game and shooting 66.7 percent from the floor and 55.6 percent from three-point territory. Ihnen is also averaging 5.6 rebounds per game during that stretch.
- Brett Decker Jr. matched his career high with 18 points. The freshman guard also had 18 points in the Flames' home opener versus Carolina University, Nov. 12.
- Liberty's defensive effort tonight in yielding 36 points was its best effort since surrendering 26 points to St. Andrews on Dec. 16, 2023 in Lynchburg (99-26 win).
- The Flames are averaging 75.8 ppg during their current five-game winning streak and surrendering only 55.0 ppg. Liberty is shooting 52 percent from the floor during that stretch, while opponents are shooting 38.6 percent.
- Jayvon Maughmer and Taelon Peter each scored 10 points. Both players have reached double digits in four games so far this year.
- Curtis Blair III notched new career highs in points (6), rebounds (4) and steals (2). Bryson Spell matched a career high with six boards, and Kai Yu added six points and six boards. Gabriel McKay dished out a career-high five assists, blocked a career-best two shots and tied a career high with four rebounds.
- Liberty's five-game winning streak is its longest since start the 2023-24 season with a 6-0 mark. The Flames' 8-1 start is their best since starting the 2019-20 season with a 14-0 record.
- This was the fourth all-time meeting between the two squads. The Flames are 4-0 all-time versus the Knights. Prior to today, the two teams last met exactly eight years ago today, a 62-48 Liberty win inside the Vines Center.
Liberty will be back at home on Dec. 7 against Mississippi Valley State (1-6). Tip time is 7 p.m. at Liberty Arena. This will be the second game of a seven-game homestand for the Flames.
The Flames are 4-0 all-time versus the Delta Devils. Last year, Liberty topped MVSU 74-39 at Liberty Arena (Dec. 5, 2023).
Team Stats
CP
Lib
FG%
.281
.535
3FG%
.190
.314
FT%
.000
.750
RB
28
50
TO
16
8
STL
5
9
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
25
FGM
11
3FGM
2
FTM
1
Pts
18
FGM
5
3FGM
4
FTM
4
Pts
10
FGM
4
3FGM
1
FTM
1
Pts
10
FGM
4
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
G
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/ Men's BasketballG
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F
/ Men's Basketball
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