Saturday, March 7
Lynchburg, Va.
2:00 PM ET
Liberty University
25-6,17-3CUSA
79
vs
72
Sam Houston
21-10,13-7CUSA
1
2
F
Sam Houston
31
41
72
Liberty
41
38
79
Liberty Celebrates Senior Day With 79-72 Victory Over Sam Houston
3/7/2026 5:52:00 PM | Men's Basketball
LYNCHBURG, Va. – Liberty celebrated its Senior Day with a 79-72 victory over visiting Sam Houston in the regular season finale, Saturday afternoon at Liberty Arena.
The Flames' seniors combined for 58 of the 79 points, led by Zach Cleveland's near-triple-double of 19 points, nine rebounds and nine assists. Fellow seniors Colin Porter (15 points) and Kaden Metheny (14 points) combined for 29 points as well.
Liberty closes the regular season with a 25-6 overall record and 17-3 mark. The Flames finish out the regular season with a 14-2 home mark as well, including an 8-2 CUSA record at Liberty Arena. Liberty will be the No. 1 seed for the upcoming 2026 CUSA Men's Basketball Championship. The Flames will face the winner of the No. 8 seed/No. 9 seed first round matchup (Tuesday) at Propst Arena in Huntsville, Ala. in Wednesday's quarterfinal round. Tip time for Wednesday's quarterfinal matchup will be 6:30 p.m. Eastern on ESPN+. The full bracket for the CUSA Championship will be released later tonight.
Sam Houston wraps up the regular season in the second position in the league standings. The Bearkats (21-10, 13-7 CUSA) drop their second straight league game after coming into the weekend having won five straight. Sam Houston will be the No. 2 seed for the CUSA Tournament.
Score Highlights
Liberty Individuals: Zach Cleveland 19 points, 9-10 FG, 9 rebounds, 9 assists, 1 steal, 1 block; Brett Decker Jr. 16 points, 5 rebounds; Colin Porter 15 points, 4-4 FT, 3 rebounds; Kaden Metheny 14 points, 4-8 3FG, 4 assists; Josh Smith 5 points, 5 rebounds
Sam Houston Individuals: Veljko Ilic 21 points, 10-15 FG, 5 rebounds, 2 steals; Jacob Walker 13 points, 5 rebounds; Kashie Natt 11 points, 16 rebounds (career high), 3 assists; Damon Nicholas Jr. 10 points, 4-8 FG, 2-3 3FG
Key Team Stats: Liberty finished the afternoon shooting 50.9 percent (28-of-55) from the floor and was 14-of-36 (38.9 percent) from the three-point line and 9-of-11 (81.8 percent) from the foul line. The Flames improve to 24-1 when outshooting their opponents and 19-1 this year when shooting 50 percent or better. Sam Houston finished the game at 45.2 percent (28-of-62) from the field. The Bearkats shot 53.3 percent in the second half after shooting only 37.5 percent in the first 20 minutes. Liberty dished out 20 assists for a second straight game, compared to only 10 for Sam Houston. The Bearkats' edges came in rebounding (37-30), points in the paint (40-28) and second chance points (22-9). Both teams turned the ball over eight times. Liberty held narrow advantages in bench points (13-9), fast break points (11-7) and points off turnovers (6-5). The Flames led by as many 17 and held the lead for 33:12 of the 40 minutes. Sam Houston only led for 1:06.
Turning Point
Liberty led by 10, 41-31, at the break and quickly built up a 17-point advantage (50-33) with 17:14 remaining in the contest. Sam Houston slowly worked its way back into the game and went on a 22-6 run to cut the deficit to just one, 65-64 with 5:55 to play. The Bearkats tied it at 68-all on a Jacobe Coleman layup with 2:43 to go, but Liberty scored 11 of the game's final 15 points to secure the win.
A driving layup by Zach Cleveland at the 1:39 mark put the hosts ahead 70-68. After Sam Houston's Veljko Ilix split a pair of free throws, Flames senior guard Colin Porter knocked down a pair of free throws on the other end with 1:19 left for a 72-69 lead. On Liberty's next trip down the court, Cleveland found Porter late in the shot clock for a corner three-pointer, and Porter buried it to push the advantage up to 75-69 with 37 seconds remaining. Brett Decker Jr. and Porter both made a pair of free throws over the final 22 seconds to help secure the triumph.
Key Stats & Notes
The Flames will open up postseason play in the 2026 CUSA Men's Basketball Championship quarterfinal round at 6:30 p.m. Eastern (5:30 p.m. Central), Wednesday night. Liberty will face the winner of the No. 8 seed/No. 9 seed first round matchup at Propst Arena in Huntsville, Ala. Wednesday's quarterfinal contest will air live on ESPN+ and be carried live on the Liberty Flames Sports Network.
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.
The Flames' seniors combined for 58 of the 79 points, led by Zach Cleveland's near-triple-double of 19 points, nine rebounds and nine assists. Fellow seniors Colin Porter (15 points) and Kaden Metheny (14 points) combined for 29 points as well.
Liberty closes the regular season with a 25-6 overall record and 17-3 mark. The Flames finish out the regular season with a 14-2 home mark as well, including an 8-2 CUSA record at Liberty Arena. Liberty will be the No. 1 seed for the upcoming 2026 CUSA Men's Basketball Championship. The Flames will face the winner of the No. 8 seed/No. 9 seed first round matchup (Tuesday) at Propst Arena in Huntsville, Ala. in Wednesday's quarterfinal round. Tip time for Wednesday's quarterfinal matchup will be 6:30 p.m. Eastern on ESPN+. The full bracket for the CUSA Championship will be released later tonight.
Sam Houston wraps up the regular season in the second position in the league standings. The Bearkats (21-10, 13-7 CUSA) drop their second straight league game after coming into the weekend having won five straight. Sam Houston will be the No. 2 seed for the CUSA Tournament.
Score Highlights
Liberty Individuals: Zach Cleveland 19 points, 9-10 FG, 9 rebounds, 9 assists, 1 steal, 1 block; Brett Decker Jr. 16 points, 5 rebounds; Colin Porter 15 points, 4-4 FT, 3 rebounds; Kaden Metheny 14 points, 4-8 3FG, 4 assists; Josh Smith 5 points, 5 rebounds
Sam Houston Individuals: Veljko Ilic 21 points, 10-15 FG, 5 rebounds, 2 steals; Jacob Walker 13 points, 5 rebounds; Kashie Natt 11 points, 16 rebounds (career high), 3 assists; Damon Nicholas Jr. 10 points, 4-8 FG, 2-3 3FG
Key Team Stats: Liberty finished the afternoon shooting 50.9 percent (28-of-55) from the floor and was 14-of-36 (38.9 percent) from the three-point line and 9-of-11 (81.8 percent) from the foul line. The Flames improve to 24-1 when outshooting their opponents and 19-1 this year when shooting 50 percent or better. Sam Houston finished the game at 45.2 percent (28-of-62) from the field. The Bearkats shot 53.3 percent in the second half after shooting only 37.5 percent in the first 20 minutes. Liberty dished out 20 assists for a second straight game, compared to only 10 for Sam Houston. The Bearkats' edges came in rebounding (37-30), points in the paint (40-28) and second chance points (22-9). Both teams turned the ball over eight times. Liberty held narrow advantages in bench points (13-9), fast break points (11-7) and points off turnovers (6-5). The Flames led by as many 17 and held the lead for 33:12 of the 40 minutes. Sam Houston only led for 1:06.
Turning Point
Liberty led by 10, 41-31, at the break and quickly built up a 17-point advantage (50-33) with 17:14 remaining in the contest. Sam Houston slowly worked its way back into the game and went on a 22-6 run to cut the deficit to just one, 65-64 with 5:55 to play. The Bearkats tied it at 68-all on a Jacobe Coleman layup with 2:43 to go, but Liberty scored 11 of the game's final 15 points to secure the win.
A driving layup by Zach Cleveland at the 1:39 mark put the hosts ahead 70-68. After Sam Houston's Veljko Ilix split a pair of free throws, Flames senior guard Colin Porter knocked down a pair of free throws on the other end with 1:19 left for a 72-69 lead. On Liberty's next trip down the court, Cleveland found Porter late in the shot clock for a corner three-pointer, and Porter buried it to push the advantage up to 75-69 with 37 seconds remaining. Brett Decker Jr. and Porter both made a pair of free throws over the final 22 seconds to help secure the triumph.
Key Stats & Notes
- Zach Cleveland (19 points, nine rebounds, nine assists) nearly notched his second career triple-double. The senior forward recorded his 19th game with seven or more assists.
- In two meetings with the Bearkats, Zach Cleveland averaged 21.0 points, 9.5 assists, 8.0 rebounds, 1.5 steals and 1.5 blocks.
- Liberty completes the regular season sweep of Sam Houston and improves to 6-2 against the Bearkats all-time. The Flames have won four straight in the series and are 5-1 versus Sam Houston since coming into the league. Liberty is 3-0 all-time against Sam Houston at Liberty Arena.
- This is Liberty's sixth all-time 25-win season. Five of those six have come under the leadership of head coach Ritchie McKay.
- The Flames' 17 CUSA regular season wins are their most since joining the league and the most for a CUSA team since Florida Atlantic went 18-2 in conference during the 2022-23 season. Over the last two regular seasons, Liberty is 30-8 in conference with two outright CUSA regular season crowns.
- Liberty's point distribution for its senior class today went as follows: Zach Cleveland (19), Colin Porter (15), Kaden Metheny (14), Josh Smith (5), Zander Yates (3) and JJ Harper (2).
- The Flames knocked down 41 three-pointers over the final three regular season games.
- Liberty is one of 22 teams in the country with 25 or more victories at this point in the 2025-26 season.
- The Flames finish exactly 25-6 in regular season action for a second straight year.
- Over the last four years, Liberty is 98-36 with three regular season titles (two outright) and one conference tournament title (CUSA 2025) to date.
The Flames will open up postseason play in the 2026 CUSA Men's Basketball Championship quarterfinal round at 6:30 p.m. Eastern (5:30 p.m. Central), Wednesday night. Liberty will face the winner of the No. 8 seed/No. 9 seed first round matchup at Propst Arena in Huntsville, Ala. Wednesday's quarterfinal contest will air live on ESPN+ and be carried live on the Liberty Flames Sports Network.
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
SHSU
Lib
FG%
.452
.509
3FG%
.500
.389
FT%
.533
.818
RB
37
30
TO
8
8
STL
2
3
Game Leaders
Pts
19
FGM
9
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Pts
16
FGM
5
3FGM
4
FTM
2
Pts
15
FGM
4
3FGM
3
FTM
4
Pts
14
FGM
5
3FGM
4
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
F
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's Basketball
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/ Men's Basketball
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