Thursday, March 5
Lynchburg, Va.
7:00 PM ET
Liberty University
24-6,16-3CUSA
71
vs
76
Louisiana Tech
17-13,10-9CUSA
1
2
F
Louisiana Tech
45
31
76
Liberty
40
31
71
Flames Drop 2nd in Row at Home, 76-71 to LA Tech
3/5/2026 10:29:00 PM | Men's Basketball
LYNCHBURG, Va. – The Liberty Flames dropped their second home game in a row, 76-71 to visiting Louisiana Tech on Thursday evening at Liberty Arena.
Liberty slips to 24-6 on the season and 16-3 in CUSA. The Flames fall to 13-2 at home after opening the year 13-0 in their own building. Louisiana Tech improves to 17-13 on the year and gets above .500 (10-9) in league play with the triumph. The Bulldogs (3-6) pick up their third CUSA road win of the year .
It was a duel between guards for the two squads, as Liberty's Brett Decker Jr. poured in a career-high 30 points for the home side. LA Tech's AJ Bates scored a game high and career-high 34 points of his own to lead the Bulldogs to victory.
Score Highlights
Liberty Individuals: Brett Decker Jr. 30 points (career high), 10-16 FG, 8-13 3FG; Kaden Metheny 15 points, 6 rebounds, Josh Smith 9 points, 3-4 FG, 4 rebounds; Zach Cleveland 7 points, 8 assists, 4 rebounds, 2 steals
Louisiana Tech Individuals: AJ Bates 34 points (career high), 13-23 FG, 6-11 3FG, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals; Avery Thomas II 12 points, 6-9 FG, 7 rebounds; Jaylen Fenner 11 points, 4-6 FG, 8 rebounds; DJ Dudley 9 points, 3 assists
Key Team Stats: Liberty struggled from the field in the second half, shooting only 32.1 percent (9-of-28) over the final 20 minutes. The Flames finished the game at 41.8 percent (23-of-55) on the night. Conversely, LA Tech shot above 50 percent in both halves at finished at 52.5 percent (32-of-61) for the night. Liberty has allowed four straight opponents to shoot over 50 percent. The Bulldogs held edges in rebounding (36-26), points in the paint (32-14), second chance points (14-8), and fast break points (6-0). Liberty led in assists, 20-14. The Flames only turned the ball over seven times, compared to eight for the Bulldogs. The home side led in points off turnovers (12-8) and bench points (9-6, all by Josh Smith). Liberty never led tonight, while LA Tech led for 37:19. This is only the second time this year the Flames never led in a game (other at NC State, Dec. 10).
Turning Point
Louisiana Tech led by as many as 10 in the first, but Liberty chipped away at the Bulldogs' lead and trailed 45-40 at the break. In the first half, the Flames' Brett Decker Jr. and AJ Bates both scored 22 points. Decker Jr. was 8-of-9 from the field and 6-of-7 from three, while Bates went 9-of-14 from the floor and 4-of-6 from three.
LA Tech pushed the lead to 11, 51-40, with 17:52 left following a pair of baskets from Bates and a dunk from Melian Martinez. Liberty crept back into the game and trailed 63-58 with 10:25 left following a Kaden Metheny three. After a Bulldogs basket, Liberty responded with a 7-0 run, capped off by a Brett Decker Jr. three and pair of free throws, to even the game at 65-65 at the 7:07 mark. However, LA Tech pushed the lead back to six with its own 6-0 run to surge ahead 71-65 with 4:57 left. Liberty only made two of its final 13 field goals over the final 6:16.
Liberty cut the LA Tech advantage to 76-71 with 32 seconds left following Decker Jr.'s eighth and final three of the evening. The Flames came up with a steal but missed a three-pointer and turned it over after coming up with an offensive rebound.
Key Stats & Notes
Liberty will close out the regular season by hosting Sam Houston (21-9, 13-6 CUSA) on Saturday afternoon for Senior Day. Tipoff is 2 p.m. at Liberty Arena. The Flames knocked off the Bearkats 82-74 in the first meeting, Jan. 10.
Prior to the game, Liberty men's basketball will honor its senior class with a special ceremony. The program will honor eight players (JJ Harper, Isaiah Ihnen, Josh Smith, Zander Yates, JC Shirer Jr., Kaden Metheny, Zach Cleveland and Colin Porter) and five managers/students (Braden Chupp (basketball analytics student), Brandon McCall, Moses Batchelor (manager), Will Geiger (manager) and Ben Skammer (manager)).
CUSA Championship Ticket Information
Ticket packages for the 2026 CUSA Men's and Women's Basketball Championships are now on sale. Both the Flames and Lady Flames will look to defend their conference tournament titles at Propst Arena in Huntsville, Ala., March 10-14.
Fans can purchase an all-session booklet through the Liberty Ticket Office for $175, a savings of $25. This includes tickets to all nine men's games and all nine women's games throughout the tournament. To purchase tickets and find more information, please visit http://www.libertyflames.com/CUSABasketball.
Students will be able to purchase tickets for the tournaments on a session-to-session basis. These may be purchased at Propst Arena with a valid student ID (of a CUSA school) for half the price of the current day's session.
Liberty slips to 24-6 on the season and 16-3 in CUSA. The Flames fall to 13-2 at home after opening the year 13-0 in their own building. Louisiana Tech improves to 17-13 on the year and gets above .500 (10-9) in league play with the triumph. The Bulldogs (3-6) pick up their third CUSA road win of the year .
It was a duel between guards for the two squads, as Liberty's Brett Decker Jr. poured in a career-high 30 points for the home side. LA Tech's AJ Bates scored a game high and career-high 34 points of his own to lead the Bulldogs to victory.
Score Highlights
Liberty Individuals: Brett Decker Jr. 30 points (career high), 10-16 FG, 8-13 3FG; Kaden Metheny 15 points, 6 rebounds, Josh Smith 9 points, 3-4 FG, 4 rebounds; Zach Cleveland 7 points, 8 assists, 4 rebounds, 2 steals
Louisiana Tech Individuals: AJ Bates 34 points (career high), 13-23 FG, 6-11 3FG, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals; Avery Thomas II 12 points, 6-9 FG, 7 rebounds; Jaylen Fenner 11 points, 4-6 FG, 8 rebounds; DJ Dudley 9 points, 3 assists
Key Team Stats: Liberty struggled from the field in the second half, shooting only 32.1 percent (9-of-28) over the final 20 minutes. The Flames finished the game at 41.8 percent (23-of-55) on the night. Conversely, LA Tech shot above 50 percent in both halves at finished at 52.5 percent (32-of-61) for the night. Liberty has allowed four straight opponents to shoot over 50 percent. The Bulldogs held edges in rebounding (36-26), points in the paint (32-14), second chance points (14-8), and fast break points (6-0). Liberty led in assists, 20-14. The Flames only turned the ball over seven times, compared to eight for the Bulldogs. The home side led in points off turnovers (12-8) and bench points (9-6, all by Josh Smith). Liberty never led tonight, while LA Tech led for 37:19. This is only the second time this year the Flames never led in a game (other at NC State, Dec. 10).
Turning Point
Louisiana Tech led by as many as 10 in the first, but Liberty chipped away at the Bulldogs' lead and trailed 45-40 at the break. In the first half, the Flames' Brett Decker Jr. and AJ Bates both scored 22 points. Decker Jr. was 8-of-9 from the field and 6-of-7 from three, while Bates went 9-of-14 from the floor and 4-of-6 from three.
LA Tech pushed the lead to 11, 51-40, with 17:52 left following a pair of baskets from Bates and a dunk from Melian Martinez. Liberty crept back into the game and trailed 63-58 with 10:25 left following a Kaden Metheny three. After a Bulldogs basket, Liberty responded with a 7-0 run, capped off by a Brett Decker Jr. three and pair of free throws, to even the game at 65-65 at the 7:07 mark. However, LA Tech pushed the lead back to six with its own 6-0 run to surge ahead 71-65 with 4:57 left. Liberty only made two of its final 13 field goals over the final 6:16.
Liberty cut the LA Tech advantage to 76-71 with 32 seconds left following Decker Jr.'s eighth and final three of the evening. The Flames came up with a steal but missed a three-pointer and turned it over after coming up with an offensive rebound.
Key Stats & Notes
- Brett Decker Jr's 30 points are a new career high, and he matched a career high with eight three-pointers. His previous career high was 29 in the season opener against Kentucky Christian, Nov. 3, and he also hit eight triples in that matchup. Decker Jr.'s career high against a Division I foe prior to tonight was 27 at FIU, Dec. 28.
- His 30-point night was the highest scoring output for any Flame this year. Decker Jr. has 10 20-plus point games on the year after his first 30-point game and upped his season scoring average to 16.9 points per game.
- Decker Jr's eight three-pointers put him over the century mark with 105 triples on the year. He became the eighth player (seventh different) in program history to make 100 or more threes in a season. The sophomore 105 threes are fourth most in a season in program history.
- Kaden Metheny knocked down five three-pointers for 15 points tonight and is up to 90 threes on the year.
- Zach Cleveland, the CUSA leader in assists, dished out eight assists tonight, his 18th game of the season with seven-plus assists.
- Four of the six all-time meetings between the two squads have been decided by five points or fewer. The all-time series is now even 2-2. LA Tech (1-2) picks up its first victory at Liberty Arena.
- Liberty has lost three of its last four games after starting 15-0 in league play.
Liberty will close out the regular season by hosting Sam Houston (21-9, 13-6 CUSA) on Saturday afternoon for Senior Day. Tipoff is 2 p.m. at Liberty Arena. The Flames knocked off the Bearkats 82-74 in the first meeting, Jan. 10.
Prior to the game, Liberty men's basketball will honor its senior class with a special ceremony. The program will honor eight players (JJ Harper, Isaiah Ihnen, Josh Smith, Zander Yates, JC Shirer Jr., Kaden Metheny, Zach Cleveland and Colin Porter) and five managers/students (Braden Chupp (basketball analytics student), Brandon McCall, Moses Batchelor (manager), Will Geiger (manager) and Ben Skammer (manager)).
CUSA Championship Ticket Information
Ticket packages for the 2026 CUSA Men's and Women's Basketball Championships are now on sale. Both the Flames and Lady Flames will look to defend their conference tournament titles at Propst Arena in Huntsville, Ala., March 10-14.
Fans can purchase an all-session booklet through the Liberty Ticket Office for $175, a savings of $25. This includes tickets to all nine men's games and all nine women's games throughout the tournament. To purchase tickets and find more information, please visit http://www.libertyflames.com/CUSABasketball.
Students will be able to purchase tickets for the tournaments on a session-to-session basis. These may be purchased at Propst Arena with a valid student ID (of a CUSA school) for half the price of the current day's session.
Team Stats
LATech
Lib
FG%
.525
.418
3FG%
.304
.410
FT%
1.000
.692
RB
36
26
TO
8
7
STL
7
2
Game Leaders
Pts
30
FGM
10
3FGM
8
FTM
2
Pts
15
FGM
5
3FGM
5
FTM
0
Pts
9
FGM
3
3FGM
2
FTM
1
Pts
7
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Players Mentioned
F
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's BasketballF
/ Men's Basketball
F
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Wednesday, March 04