Saturday, February 8
Lynchburg, Va.
4:00 PM ET
Liberty University
19-5,7-4CUSA
64
vs
61
Sam Houston
8-16,1-10CUSA
1
2
F
Sam Houston
29
32
61
Liberty
33
31
64
Metheny scored a season-high 26 points versus the Bearkats.
Liberty Grinds Out 64-61 Win Over Sam Houston
2/8/2025 8:03:00 PM | Men's Basketball
LYNCHBURG, Va. – Liberty grinded out a narrow 64-61 win over Sam Houston to complete a weekend home sweep, Saturday at Liberty Arena.
The Flames (19-5) pick up their 19th victory of the campaign and improve to 7-4 in Conference USA action. Liberty (10-2) picks up his 10th home win of the year. Sam Houston slips to 9-16 overall, 1-10 in CUSA action and 1-4 in league road games.
Kaden Metheny led the way with a game-high 26 points, his most in a Flames uniform. Metheny also tallied a season-high seven rebounds and was 9-of-17 from the field. Colin Porter joined Metheny in double figures with 10 points, his sixth straight double-digit scoring game.
Box Score Highlights
Liberty Individuals: Kaden Metheny 26 points (Liberty high), 9-17 FG, 4-4 FT, 7 rebounds, 2 steals; Colin Porter 10 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists; Zach Cleveland 8 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 blocks; Owen Aquino 6 points, 4 rebounds, 3 blocks; Taelon Peter 5 points, +13 in 13:18 of action
Sam Houston Individuals: Marcus Boykin 23 points, 10-11 FT, 5 assists, 3 steals; Cameron Huefner 15 points, 3-6 3FG; Marcus Wilkerson 11 points, 4-4 FT, 6 rebounds
Key Team Stats: Liberty shot 43.8 percent (21-of-48) from the floor and 32.1 percent (9-of-28) from three-point territory. The Flames had their best free throw shooting performance against a Division I foe today (and second best on the season), knocking down 81.3 percent (13-of-16) of its foul shots. Sam Houston was 21-of-52 (40.4 percent) from the field and only 26.3 percent (5-of-19) from long distance while shooting 73.7 percent (14-of-19) from the free throw line. The Bearkats held a 26-22 edge in points in the paint and had advantage in rebounding (34-29), second chance points (7-5) and fast break points (10-7). Liberty had edges in points off turnovers (20-16), assists (12-11) and bench points (9-4).
Turning Point
Liberty led by four, 33-29, at the break, and the lead was never more than five for either team the rest of the way. The Flames held a 60-55 advantage with 4:26 on the clock before a mini 5-0 Bearkats run even things at 60-all with 3:32 left.
Liberty held Sam Houston without a field goal and to only one point over the final 3:32 and did just enough on the offensive end to secure the victory. With the game still knotted 60-60 with under 1:10 to play, Kaden Metheny came up with a steal and led a two-on-one fast break, finding Zach Cleveland at the rim for the go-ahead layup with 1:04 remaining. Sam Houston's next two trips down the court saw Owen Aquino block a Cameron Huefner shot and Zach Cleveland turn aside a Marcus Boykin attempt to tie the game.
Coming out of a timeout with 23 seconds left, Sam Houston leading scorer Marcus Wilkerson (19.4 ppg) put up a three from the right wing, but it would not fall. Taelon Peter split a pair of free throws, and the guests got the back trailing 63-60 with 15 seconds to go. On the ensuing trip down, the Liberty defensive pressure forced Boykin to step out of bounds. Peter stepped to the line with 8.3 seconds left and sank the crucial first free throw for a 64-60 line. He missed the second one, and Boykin ended up drawing a foul with 1.3 seconds left. Boykin made the first and intentionally missed the second without hitting the rim, giving the Flames the ball. Liberty ran out the clock with a long pass to secure the triumph.
Key Stats & Notes
Up Next
Liberty will hit the road for a CUSA game at New Mexico State (12-10, 5-4 CUSA), Thursday night. The Flames and Aggies will square off at 9 p.m. Eastern (7 p.m. Mountain) from the Pan American Center in Las Cruces, N.M. Liberty bested New Mexico State 68-60 in this year's first meeting, Jan. 18 at Liberty Arena.
The Flames (19-5) pick up their 19th victory of the campaign and improve to 7-4 in Conference USA action. Liberty (10-2) picks up his 10th home win of the year. Sam Houston slips to 9-16 overall, 1-10 in CUSA action and 1-4 in league road games.
Kaden Metheny led the way with a game-high 26 points, his most in a Flames uniform. Metheny also tallied a season-high seven rebounds and was 9-of-17 from the field. Colin Porter joined Metheny in double figures with 10 points, his sixth straight double-digit scoring game.
Box Score Highlights
Liberty Individuals: Kaden Metheny 26 points (Liberty high), 9-17 FG, 4-4 FT, 7 rebounds, 2 steals; Colin Porter 10 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists; Zach Cleveland 8 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 blocks; Owen Aquino 6 points, 4 rebounds, 3 blocks; Taelon Peter 5 points, +13 in 13:18 of action
Sam Houston Individuals: Marcus Boykin 23 points, 10-11 FT, 5 assists, 3 steals; Cameron Huefner 15 points, 3-6 3FG; Marcus Wilkerson 11 points, 4-4 FT, 6 rebounds
Key Team Stats: Liberty shot 43.8 percent (21-of-48) from the floor and 32.1 percent (9-of-28) from three-point territory. The Flames had their best free throw shooting performance against a Division I foe today (and second best on the season), knocking down 81.3 percent (13-of-16) of its foul shots. Sam Houston was 21-of-52 (40.4 percent) from the field and only 26.3 percent (5-of-19) from long distance while shooting 73.7 percent (14-of-19) from the free throw line. The Bearkats held a 26-22 edge in points in the paint and had advantage in rebounding (34-29), second chance points (7-5) and fast break points (10-7). Liberty had edges in points off turnovers (20-16), assists (12-11) and bench points (9-4).
Turning Point
Liberty led by four, 33-29, at the break, and the lead was never more than five for either team the rest of the way. The Flames held a 60-55 advantage with 4:26 on the clock before a mini 5-0 Bearkats run even things at 60-all with 3:32 left.
Liberty held Sam Houston without a field goal and to only one point over the final 3:32 and did just enough on the offensive end to secure the victory. With the game still knotted 60-60 with under 1:10 to play, Kaden Metheny came up with a steal and led a two-on-one fast break, finding Zach Cleveland at the rim for the go-ahead layup with 1:04 remaining. Sam Houston's next two trips down the court saw Owen Aquino block a Cameron Huefner shot and Zach Cleveland turn aside a Marcus Boykin attempt to tie the game.
Coming out of a timeout with 23 seconds left, Sam Houston leading scorer Marcus Wilkerson (19.4 ppg) put up a three from the right wing, but it would not fall. Taelon Peter split a pair of free throws, and the guests got the back trailing 63-60 with 15 seconds to go. On the ensuing trip down, the Liberty defensive pressure forced Boykin to step out of bounds. Peter stepped to the line with 8.3 seconds left and sank the crucial first free throw for a 64-60 line. He missed the second one, and Boykin ended up drawing a foul with 1.3 seconds left. Boykin made the first and intentionally missed the second without hitting the rim, giving the Flames the ball. Liberty ran out the clock with a long pass to secure the triumph.
Key Stats & Notes
- Kaden Metheny's 26-point effort was also only three off tying his career high of 29 points, which he set while at Bowling Green against Eastern Michigan on Feb. 23, 2021. The guard's previous Liberty single-game high was 25 points against UT Arlington this season on Dec. 21.
- Metheny also broke into the record books on Saturday, entering the top 50 on the program's all-time scoring list. Metheny is up to 736 points in only two seasons at Liberty, good for 49th most in school history. He passed Andrew Smith (730 points) and Tomasz Gielo (724 points) in entering the top 50.
- The Flames sweep the regular season series 2-0 against the Bearkats. The two games were decided by only 11 total points. Liberty bested Sam Houston 76-68 back on Jan. 9.
- Liberty completes a 2-0 home weekend. The Flames also upended Louisiana Tech 77-53 on Thursday evening.
- The Flames (19 wins) have surpassed last year's win total of 18. Liberty is one of 25 teams in the nation with 19 or more wins on the year at present. The Flames are one win away from securing their eighth 20-win season in the last nine years.
- The Flames keep pace in the Conference USA standings and remain in a tie for second place with Middle Tennessee at 7-4.
- Liberty led by as many as 10 in the game. The Flames led for 28:58, and the Bearkats led for only 1:47. The game was tied for 9:15, the longest a game the Flames have played in this year has been tied collectively for the whole game. The previous high was 7:36 in the Flames' come-from-behind 66-64 road win at Seattle U all the way back on Nov. 9. Tonight's matchup featured nine total ties.
- Liberty led 33-29 at halftime. The Flames have not trailed at halftime in any game this season.
- Prior to tonight's contest, Liberty Men's Basketball Head Coach Ritchie McKay was honored with a special ceremony for becoming the winningest coach in program history. McKay achieved milestone win No. 260 in the Flames' 82-59 triumph on the road at FIU, Jan. 25. McKay earned win No. 263 of his Liberty career today.
- Today's home win was the Flames' 100th in the last 110 home contests. Liberty is 100-10 at home in its last seven seasons.
- Despite playing only 13:18 due to foul trouble, Taelon Peter was a +13 in 13:18 of action.
- Liberty has won three straight home contests overall. Sam Houston drops to 2-12 on the road this season.
- This was the eighth game this season decided by five points or less. Liberty improves to 4-4 in those contests.
Up Next
Liberty will hit the road for a CUSA game at New Mexico State (12-10, 5-4 CUSA), Thursday night. The Flames and Aggies will square off at 9 p.m. Eastern (7 p.m. Mountain) from the Pan American Center in Las Cruces, N.M. Liberty bested New Mexico State 68-60 in this year's first meeting, Jan. 18 at Liberty Arena.
Team Stats
SHSU
Lib
FG%
.396
.438
3FG%
.263
.321
FT%
.737
.813
RB
34
29
TO
14
13
STL
8
5
Game Leaders
Pts
26
FGM
9
3FGM
4
FTM
4
Pts
10
FGM
3
3FGM
2
FTM
2
Pts
8
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Pts
6
FGM
2
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Players Mentioned
F
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
G
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