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Saturday, December 14
Lynchburg, Va.
7:00 PM ET
Liberty University
10-1,0-0CUSA
83
vs
74
North Carolina A&T
3-8,0-1CAA
1
2
F
N.C. A&T
37
37
74
Liberty
39
44
83
Flames Claim 7th in a Row, Top North Carolina A&T, 83-74
12/14/2024 9:44:00 PM | Men's Basketball
LYNCHBURG, Va. - Liberty pulled away from North Carolina A&T in the second half, earning its seventh victory in a row, an 83-74 triumph on Saturday at Liberty Arena.
The Flames improve to 10-1 on the season and 4-0. Coming into today's game, Liberty had outscored opponents by an average of 43 points at home during the campaign. North Carolina A&T falls to 3-8 overall with its sixth straight loss. The Aggies are 1-7 on the road.
Liberty's Owen Aquino posted a double-double with a career-high 28 points to go along with 10 rebounds. Zach Cleveland and Jayvon Maughmer both scored 12 points, while Taelon Peter tallied 10 points. North Carolina A&T had two players score 20 or more, in Ryan Forrest (21) and Landon Glaser (20), while Jahnathan Lamothe (11 points, 12 rebounds) had a double-double.
Box Score Highlights
Liberty Individuals: Owen Aquino 28 points, 12-20 FG, 10 rebounds; Zach Cleveland 12 points, 2 blocks, 7 assists, 2 steals; Jayvon Maughmer 12 points, 5-8 FG; Taelon Peter 10 points; Kaden Metheny 8 points, 7 assists
North Carolina A&T Individuals: Ryan Forrest 21 points, 8-15 FG, 4-6 3FG; Landon Glasper 20 points; Jahnathan Lamothe 11 points, 12 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 blocks; Nikolaos Chitikoudis 10 points, 3 blocks.
Key Team Stats: Liberty shot 50 percent (33-of-66) from the field, its sixth game shooting above 50 percent on the year. The Flames are 6-0 in those games. North Carolina A&T shot 40.3 percent (27-of-67) overall, including 9-of-22 (.409) on threes. The Aggies' nine made three-pointers are tied with Carolina University (Nov. 12) for the most triples against Liberty in a game this year. Liberty shot 34.8 percent from three (8-of-23). The visitors connected on 11-of-12 (91.7 percent) of their foul shots, compared to 60 percent for Liberty (9-of-15). Both teams grabbed 38 rebounds. Liberty led 21-12 in assists. The Flames doubled up the Aggies in both points off turnovers (12-6) and points in the paint (48-24), while the guests led in both second-chance points (16-4) and bench points (41-17).
Turning Point
Liberty held a 56-50 lead with 13:47 remaining in the game. The Flames took control with a 7-0 run over the next 1:32 of game time, with Cleveland scoring five points in a row to push Liberty's lead to 63-50.
The Flames held the Aggies at arm's length for the rest of the game, never allowing them to get closer than nine points from that point on.
Key Stats & Notes
Liberty continues its seven-game homestand, welcoming St. Andrews (1-6) to the Liberty Arena on Tuesday. Game time in set for 7 p.m. and can be seen on ESPN+.
This will be the second meeting for the Flames and Knights, as Liberty made 18 three-pointers in a 99-26 win over St. Andrews on Dec. 16, 2023 at Liberty Arena.
The Flames improve to 10-1 on the season and 4-0. Coming into today's game, Liberty had outscored opponents by an average of 43 points at home during the campaign. North Carolina A&T falls to 3-8 overall with its sixth straight loss. The Aggies are 1-7 on the road.
Liberty's Owen Aquino posted a double-double with a career-high 28 points to go along with 10 rebounds. Zach Cleveland and Jayvon Maughmer both scored 12 points, while Taelon Peter tallied 10 points. North Carolina A&T had two players score 20 or more, in Ryan Forrest (21) and Landon Glaser (20), while Jahnathan Lamothe (11 points, 12 rebounds) had a double-double.
Box Score Highlights
Liberty Individuals: Owen Aquino 28 points, 12-20 FG, 10 rebounds; Zach Cleveland 12 points, 2 blocks, 7 assists, 2 steals; Jayvon Maughmer 12 points, 5-8 FG; Taelon Peter 10 points; Kaden Metheny 8 points, 7 assists
North Carolina A&T Individuals: Ryan Forrest 21 points, 8-15 FG, 4-6 3FG; Landon Glasper 20 points; Jahnathan Lamothe 11 points, 12 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 blocks; Nikolaos Chitikoudis 10 points, 3 blocks.
Key Team Stats: Liberty shot 50 percent (33-of-66) from the field, its sixth game shooting above 50 percent on the year. The Flames are 6-0 in those games. North Carolina A&T shot 40.3 percent (27-of-67) overall, including 9-of-22 (.409) on threes. The Aggies' nine made three-pointers are tied with Carolina University (Nov. 12) for the most triples against Liberty in a game this year. Liberty shot 34.8 percent from three (8-of-23). The visitors connected on 11-of-12 (91.7 percent) of their foul shots, compared to 60 percent for Liberty (9-of-15). Both teams grabbed 38 rebounds. Liberty led 21-12 in assists. The Flames doubled up the Aggies in both points off turnovers (12-6) and points in the paint (48-24), while the guests led in both second-chance points (16-4) and bench points (41-17).
Turning Point
Liberty held a 56-50 lead with 13:47 remaining in the game. The Flames took control with a 7-0 run over the next 1:32 of game time, with Cleveland scoring five points in a row to push Liberty's lead to 63-50.
The Flames held the Aggies at arm's length for the rest of the game, never allowing them to get closer than nine points from that point on.
Key Stats & Notes
- Liberty's current seven-game winning streak is its longest since winning seven in a row, Jan. 12 through Feb. 2, 2023.
- The Flames have scored 80 or more points in each of the last three games. The last time Liberty had three straight contests scoring 80+ was Dec. 15-22, 2020.
- North Carolina A&T is just the second opponent to score 70 or more points against Liberty this season, joining FAU (77) on Nov. 16.
- Aquino's career-high 28 points are the most by a Flame this season and most since Kyle Rode scored 31 points against Western Kentucky on March 9, 2024. His 12 field goals are the most by a Flame in a single game this season.
- Tonight was Aquino's second double-double of the season and first since the season opener against Valparaiso on Nov. 4.
- Aquino is the fourth Flame with a 20-point game this season, joining Kaden Metheny (twice), Zach Cleveland and Isaiah Ihnen.
- Making his first appearance since Nov. 25, Cleveland recorded 12 points, two blocks and seven assists, while Metheny dished out seven assists to tie a career high.
- Cleveland and Metheny are the first Liberty teammates to both dish out seven or more assists in the same game since Jan. 29, 2022 against Jacksonville State when Darius McGhee and Kyle Rode both had seven assists.
- Liberty's 10-1 start through 11 games is its best start since opening the 2019-20 season by winning 14 games in a row.
- Liberty has not trailed at halftime in any of its 11 games this season, leading at halftime eight times and being tied after 20 minutes three times.
- Liberty improves to 2-1 all-time against North Carolina A&T. The Flames have won each of the last two meetings, including a 65-52 win over the Aggies in the 2018 CIT.
Liberty continues its seven-game homestand, welcoming St. Andrews (1-6) to the Liberty Arena on Tuesday. Game time in set for 7 p.m. and can be seen on ESPN+.
This will be the second meeting for the Flames and Knights, as Liberty made 18 three-pointers in a 99-26 win over St. Andrews on Dec. 16, 2023 at Liberty Arena.
Team Stats
NCA&T
Lib
FG%
.403
.500
3FG%
.409
.348
FT%
.917
.600
RB
38
38
TO
9
6
STL
4
5
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
28
FGM
12
3FGM
2
FTM
2
Pts
12
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
6
Pts
12
FGM
5
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Pts
10
FGM
4
3FGM
1
FTM
1
Players Mentioned
F
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/ Men's Basketball
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/ Men's Basketball
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/ Men's Basketball
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