LU reserves spark defense in key win over C-S

Charleston Southern opened the second half Saturday night at the Vines Center by hitting four of its first five shots to turn a six-point halftime deficit into a four-point lead, and Liberty coach Ritchie McKay was seething, though most fans wouldn’t know it. McKay doesn’t show a lot of emotion on the sideline, but he made sure to send a message to his team through substitutions.

Four of Liberty’s starters sat on the bench after McKay called timeout. Anthony Smith was the only one left on the floor, and Smith and Liberty’s second unit led the Flames back into the game with a burst of defensive intensity. Liberty, desperate for a victory after a winless Big South road trip to South Carolina last week, handled the Buccaneers 79-60, and the renewed commitment to defense during the 12-4 run after the timeout proved to be a turning point.

“That second unit came in and gave us a lot of energy,” McKay said. “They answered their run. They put a lot of emphasis on defending, instead of just worrying about the offensive end. I think that was healthy for us.”

That run didn’t win the game for Liberty (11-6, 2-3 Big South), but it was clear that if the Flames continued to play the same sort of negligent defense that it did in the first three minutes of the second half, there was a good chance Charleston Southern could run away with the game.

And that would have been a disaster in the topsy-turvy conference race. Liberty was already in a 1-3 hole after losing to Winthrop and Presbyterian last week by a combined three points, and another loss would have put LU in a tenuous spot.

“I was very anxious about this one,” McKay said. “Three losses in a row in this league can be catastrophic for your contention, and I felt like we were a little rattled and a little weary. We hadn’t played a significant home game since Dec. 6. I just thought we might think we’d just show up and win. And if we got down, the lack of confidence would swell.”

Smith scored six of his 13 points immediately after McKay’s timeout. He hit a 3-pointer, then Liberty forced a turnover. He took a nice pass from Johnny Stephene and scored while being fouled, and after hitting the free-throw, Liberty led 41-39.

CSU (5-9, 1-3) regained the lead one more time, going up 48-47 when Omar Carter scored on a 3-point play. Liberty responded by outscoring the Bucs 32-12 in the final 13:45.

After starting the season 5-3, the Bucs have lost six straight games, though they’ve been competitive in most of the defeats. CSU coach Barclay Radebaugh has bemoaned his team’s lack of maturity in tight games, and Saturday night was no different.

Both teams have rosters filled with freshmen and sophomores. The key difference is Smith, Liberty’s lone senior and the conference’s preseason player of the year.

“At the 10-minute mark, it’s a two-point game,” Radebaugh said. “They make a run and we don’t respond. They’re a little deeper than us, but not by much. They’re not any older than we are. But maturity is taking that run, getting a couple of stops, going down and executing offensively. You know at home, they’re going to come at you.

“You’ve got to absorb that blow and play with poise. We didn’t do that. It became an avalanche really quick.”

Liberty’s Seth Curry scored a game-high 27 points and kept the Flames in the game with 17 first-half points. He out-dueled the Big South’s leading scorer, CSU’s Jamarco Warren, who scored 24 points after being held scoreless in the first 12-plus minutes.

Brolin Floyd added 12 points and Kyle Ohman 11 for the Flames, who got 18 strong minutes from Stephene, another freshman on a team full of rookies.

The 6-foot-2, 200-pound guard from Boynton Beach, Fla., had four points and three assists. Twice, he got into the lane so quickly that CSU didn’t respond until Stephene was already at the basket.

“He’s a good change of pace,” Curry said. “He’s probably one of the quickest players I’ve ever played against. He can get into the lane whenever he wants. That’s a good thing for our team, because he creates shots for his teammates.”

DRIBBLES: CSU’s Carter, last year’s league freshman of the year who played with both Curry brothers at Charlotte Christian High School, didn’t start Saturday, marking the first time he’s been out of the starting five this year. Radebaugh said he wanted to shake up the lineup, and that the benching wasn’t disciplinary. Carter scored 11 points in 27 minutes. … Smith had five assists and two turnovers, moving him into positive territory in assist-to-turnover ratio for the season. All five Liberty starters have positive ratios. … Tyler Baker dunked for the first time at home in his career, using a head fake to slip his defender in the first half before going baseline for the jam.