Braves Fall to Hot-Shooting Liberty

LYNCHBURG, Va. – Liberty converted 66 percent (35-53) of its shots and saw five players finish in double figures to eclipse the century mark for the first time since 2013 en route to handing Alcorn a 108-65 setback Tuesday afternoon at Liberty Arena.

The Flames connected on a blistering 75 percent (18-of-24) of their second-half shots from the field, including 10 triples that extended the cushion by as 46 points in the late stages of the contest. Darius McGhee paced LU's scorers with 20 points while Blake Preston and Elijah Cuffee each added 16, rounding out the top three of 12 Flames' contributors.

Troymain Crosby enjoyed another season-high effort, netting 24 points and five rebounds, marking his second-straight 20+ point performance and coming within eight points of crossing the 1,000 career-point plateau. Alcorn's David Pierce III earned his second double-digit total with 14 while Tyree Corbett chipped in a season-high 10 points.

Liberty never trailed after an Alcorn miscue resulted in an early Preston layup, prepping the Flames for an ensuing 9-2 run over a four-minute span.

Alcorn battled back from a 14-7 deficit, getting layups from Crosby and Corbett to whittle the Flames' edge to three, 19-16, midway through the first. Liberty responded with 38 points over the remaining 10 minutes of first-half action to seize the commanding 57-33 advantage heading to the locker room.

The Flames continued the hot streak into the second with another 13-5 run right out of the gate. Liberty wasted no time in padding the cushion, stretching the lead to 46 points after a pair of free throws from Micaiah Abii at the 2:15 mark.

Despite the final outcome, Alcorn's 65 points marks a season high as three players posted double-digit efforts and five collected six-plus points in the midweek outing.

Alcorn remains on the road for a Sunday, Dec. 27 showdown at Vanderbilt slated for 3 p.m. inside Memorial Gymnasium.