Flames commit 26 turnovers in loss to the Pirates

HAMPTON — Liberty men’s basketball assistant coach Jason Eaker walked off the floor at the Hampton University Convocation Center, bowed his head, closed his eyes in frustration and shook his head sharply. He knew his team had given one away Wednesday night.

Interpret the words “give away” literally. Despite shooting 52.1 percent against the nation’s fourth-bestfield-goalpercentage defense, Liberty lost to Hampton 62-59 thanks to 26 turnovers. The Flames (7-6) blew an 18-point lead, including a five-point lead in the final two minutes.

And fittingly, the game’s key play was a turnover, which was the theme of the night for Liberty.

With the game tied at 59 with 40 seconds to play, Hampton guard Brandon Tunnell hounded Flames point guard Jesse Sanders up the sideline. Instead of letting the Flames set up their offense, the Pirates (9-2) put pressure on the ball, and Sanders lost it, giving Hampton the ball with 20 seconds left.

“It just came out of my hand on the dribble,” Sanders said. “I just mishandled it. The kid played good D. But it’s something I go against every day. I just lost control of the ball.”

Hampton was playing without leading scorer Darrion Pellum, who was nursing an ankle injury. But the Pirates had a hot hand in guard Kwame Morgan. On the final possession, Tunnell dribbled well outside the 3-point line until about five seconds remained. He drove, and when no lane opened, he kicked it back to Morgan, who hit a fadeaway “I told coach to bring it to me, and I told our point guard, ‘I got you, I’m gonna hit this one for you,’” Morgan said. “He had faith in me and threw me the ball. Good Christmas present.”

In the Pirates’ first 10 games, Morgan shot 28.2 percent from 3-point range (22-for-78). Wednesday, he went 6-for-11 from long range and finished with a game-high 22 points.

In a game of statistical oddities — the Flames outrebounded the Pirates 36-18 and shot just four free throws — one stat rang true. Liberty simply couldn’t overcome the rash of turnovers. The Flames jumped to a 23-5 lead behind the hot shooting of Evan Gordan (15 points), Joel Vander Pol (careerhigh 14 points) and John Caleb Sanders. But Liberty never built on that lead. At one point in the first half, the Flames turned it over on seven straight possessions, allowing the Pirates to creep back into the game.

Still, the Flames managed spurts of offense here and there to keep the lead in double digits. Gordon’s 3 with 9:44 left put LU up 53-39, but the offense ran cold after that.

With Hampton denying the outside shot, Liberty kept trying to force it inside to the 6-foot-4 John Brown and 6-6 Antwan Burrus, who struggled to score against the Pirates’ 6-8 duo of Charles Funches and Danny Agbelese.

After Gordon’s 3, the Flames’ next nine possessions went like this: Turnover, turnover, turnover, missed shot, missed shot, turnover, missed shot, missed shot, missed shot. Meanwhile, the Pirates caught fire, scoring on seven of their next nine possessions to draw within 53-52 on a Funches basket with 3:52 left.

“We were just trying to give them the inside,” Morgan said. “The kid Gordon was hot, he was making shots. We said let them go inside. We’ve got the bigs, you know, Danny Agbelese and Chuck Funches. Block shots.

Do your thing. Danny’s one of the leading shot blockers in the country. He didn’t have any in the first half. So we said, ‘It’s your time to eat.’” David Minaya ended the Flames’ drought by knocking down an 18-foot jumper off an inbounds play, and Liberty seemed to stabilize. John Brown (seven points, 11 rebounds, seven turnovers) put LU up 59-54 with 1:44 left when he cleaned up a Gordon miss. But Liberty turned it over on its final two possessions, setting up Morgan’s heroics.

Said Liberty coach Dale Layer: “I thought when we didn’t turn it over, we took good shots and made good shots. But we were a little rushed at times. They kind of got us out of our comfort zone and we weren’t poised as we needed to be. But you’ve got to give them credit. … They kept fighting back. We played hard. I think we’ll get better because of this.”