[Chris Lang]

SJ ... the technical on McLean was not a terrible call. It was by the book. Alex slapped the backboard on his way back down, which is a no-no. A tech is automatic in that situation.

Everyone in the crowd thought it was for hanging on the rim, which wasn't the case. You're going to get hit every time if you slap the backboard after the dunk. It's considered taunting.

[Sly Fox]

I missed the entire show with a busy night at work. It sounds like we are starting to build some nice things on the court (much to the chagrin of some on the board).

Too bad I missed the Flamefans shout outs.

[SuperJon]

He missed the backboard.

[Chris Lang]

He missed the backboard.

Not from the replay I saw. Even if he didn't, the intent was there. You can't do that.

[Sly Fox]

From the SIDs:

Flames Win Fifth-Straight Game With 84-67 Victory Over St. Francis

December 4, 2006
Lynchburg, Va.


Anthony Smith completes the alley oop

Liberty (5-1) won its fifth-straight game behind 21 points from Larry Blair as the Flames beat St. Francis (2-4) on Monday night at the Vines Center, 84-67.

St. Francis jumped out to a quick 6-0 lead capped by two free throws by Chris Berry at 18:06.The Flames came charging back going on a 9-2 run of their own capped by a jumper from the corner by Blair with 16:04 remaining in the first half to give the Flames the 9-8 lead.

Over the next five minutes both teams went back and forth as the Flames held a 10-9 advantage after a lay-up by Anthony Smith at the 11:36 mark in the first half giving Liberty the 19-17 lead.

The Red Flash than snapped off a 10-4 run, capped by a basket from Devin Sweetney to give St. Francis the 27-23 lead with 7:23 left in the opening period.

The first half continued to be a battle as the Flames held a 16-14 advantage over the final seven minutes of the first half, but it was the Red Flash who took the 41-39 lead into the locker room. An Alex McLean dunk with 58 seconds left in the half tied the game up at 39 apiece but he was tagged for a technical foul for slapping the back board, giving two free shots to St. Francis. Sweetney hit both the shots to take the two-point advantage into the half when a Blair shot from the right elbow didn’t fall with three second remaining.

St. Francis shot 51.9 percent from the field on 14-of-27 shooting. It was the first time all season an opponent shot over 50 percent in the opening half against the Flames.

The Flames opened the second half on a 6-2 run to take a 45-43 lead with 17:30 left in the game after Rell Porter sank two free throws.

The Flames then went on an 10-3 run capped by a Jenkins three-point basket from the corner followed by a Blair runner in the lane to give the Flames a 55-46 lead with 13:26 remaining in the game.

The Flames increase their lead to 67-53 after a 12-7 Liberty run culminated on an alley-oop dunk by Smith on a pass from Jenkins with 7:40 remaining in the game. The Flames than continued the fire proceeding on a 10-4 run capped off on a fast break basket by Smith on a feed from Holland giving the Flames a 77-59 lead with 4:31 left in the game.

Over the final four minutes the Flames and Red Flash were neck and neck as Liberty clinched its fifth-straight home victory of the season. The last time the Flames won five-straight home games was during the 2003-04 campaign, a season that culminated with the Big South Championship.

The Red Flash were as cold in the second half shooting as they were hot in the first half, hitting only 32.3 percent of their attempts on 10-of-31 shooting. The Flames however continue to fire on all cylinders shooting 66.7 percent from the field in the second half on 16-of-24 shooting and an impressive 58.2 percent on 32-of-55 from the field on the game.

The Flames had five players score in double figures spearheaded by Blair’s game-high 21 points on 9-of-12 shooting and Smith’s 19 points on 8-of-9 shooting. McLean scored 12 points and grabbed four rebounds despite playing with severe flu like symptoms. Damien Hubbard scored a season-high 12 points and Jenkins rounds out the top performers with 10 points, two assists and two steals in 23 minutes of play compounding on his Big South Freshman of the Week honors from last week.

The Red Flash were led by Sweetney who scored 20 points while grabbing seven rebounds and Chris Berry who scored 15 points on 5-of-12 shooting.

The victory marked the first win for the Flames after three previous meetings with St. Francis. The game also marked the first meeting between these two schools since the Red Flash beat the Flames 73-72 on December 3, 1990 in Loretto, Pa.

These two schools conclude the season series against each other on December 16 in Loretto, Pa. That game marks the first time Dwight Brewington will be able to suit up for the Flames. Brewington is set to miss the first seven games of the year due to the NCAA transfer rules.

The Flames are back in action on Saturday when Longwood comes to the Vines Center. Tip is set for 7 p.m. and the game will be televised on the Flames Television Network.

http://libertyflames.com/index.cfm?PID= ... 4&TeamID=6

[Purple Haize]

I am frightened to reply, but not really!!

Didn't see the game. (Was out looking for work at LUREAL's place!!) I will say this. At least we don't suck!! We are better than bottom feeders from CUSA and NEAC(?) so that is a start. As a huge fan of the zone, it was a brilliant move!! Caught the post game with RD, and he did sound real proud a lot less suicidal than last years post game interviews.
I am totally ticked off that they didnt' cover the spread though.
Lu over WoodU by 25

[PAmedic]

Cbssportsline has us and Winthrop losing tonight.

Mejia's Selections


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

By Tony Mejia
CBS.SportsLine.com Staff Writer
Daily predictions of the nation's Division I college basketball action. This feature has accurately predicted the winner of over 70 percent of games the past four seasons.
Mejia's record
2006-07 Season Previous Seasons
Last night: 14-9 (60.9%) 2005-06: 3473-1346 (72.1%)
Week to date: 269-77 (77.7%) 2004-05: 3,523-1,301 (73.0%)
Year to date: 981-286 (77.4%) 2003-04: 3,606-1,300 (73.5%)
2002-03: 3,294-1,246 (72.6%)


Projected Scores
NCAAB GAMES FOR 12/04/2006
St. Francis (Pa.) 73 Liberty 67

Wisconsin 76 Winthrop 66

we win 84-67

somebody oughta get their money back

[PAmedic]

most people tell me that they either have better things to do or they just are not going. i tell a bunch of people, but no one ever shows up. i guess it's not football.....

hang in there bro. Remember, human beings are creatures of habit and last years results left a bad taste in many mouths- so to speak. Keep spreading the word- if the guys continue to improve, and- above all- KEEP WINNING- they will come!
I'm still hoping to get down there myself- schedule just too crazy right now.

Keep the faith

[Sly Fox]

Hopefully there is a buzz building surrounding the program. This nice start certainly should be at least attracting mild attention from the student body at the minimum.

[TDDance234]

It's the week before finals.

I consider myself an extremely loyal fan and the only reason I had the time to go tonight was because it was required for my coaching basketball class.

I've never had so many papers due at once.

[LU'sbestmanager]

well we have almost 500 Faith in the Furnace people. i don't know where they have been. it was pretty loud on sat. i just want to see the vines packed.

[SuperJon]

Keep winning Manger. Conference play will be different. Like TD said, it's the week before finals. I did absolutely NOTHING from August to a week before Thanksgiving, and then Thanksgiving break hit and I've had papers or projects due almost every day. I watched most of the game. Ok, I had the tv on and listened to it. A lot of us care, it's just hard sometimes. Saturday will be different. Most of the papers and projects are due either tomorrow or Wednesday (last days of classes). The assignments will be finished and everyone will want a break from exams on Saturday night and will come to the game. It should be a good crowd.

[SuperJon]

Also, I'm willing to bet if this was a team that people knew about, more would've come to the game. Had we played Longwood tonight and St. Francis on Saturday, I probably would've made the time, sacrificed the sleep, and went to the game. Now that we're starting to play teams that people have heard of, things will change.

[LU'sbestmanager]

yea but after saturday's win everyone was saying that we will have a big turnout because all of the students were coming back from home.

[Purple Haize]

yea but after saturday's win everyone was saying that we will have a big turnout because all of the students were coming back from home.

Well obviously not EVERYONE was saying that.

[SuperJon]

yea but after saturday's win everyone was saying that we will have a big turnout because all of the students were coming back from home.

I don't remember hearing anyone say that. I remember people saying things about exams and projects.


Another thing, and I know this sounds horrible, but Carolina and Philly were playing on MNF tonight. We have a ton of students from the Carolinas and a ton from eastern PA or southern NJ. I know that I took a break from my projects to watch part of the game (just like I took a break to watch some of the basketball game).


There will be a good crowd on Saturday.

[ATrain]

Not to mention all the rednecks that'll come up from Farmville to root for Longwood...oh I do hope we win big, b/c I don't wanna hear about it all break if we don't...last year was a nightmare after the Flames went to Farmville, eesh.

[thepostman]

well, halfway done with paper/project...anyways, I always hated that slap the backboard rule, i didn't think he did that, but then again didn't really pay too much attention to the big screen....

as for the crowd tonight, there is nothing to be disappointed about....this is a freaking crazy week, we aren't a school with huge athletic traditions...so students are going to drop everything to go to a game....like SJ said the crowd will be good Saturday, if its not then you have every right to be disappointed....

this team is improving every game, we shall see what happens saturday against longwood

[ATrain]

Blair leads Flames


By Chris Lang
Lynchburg News & Advance
December 5, 2006



When Larry Blair popped high off a screen and pulled up for a 22-foot 3-pointer at the top of the key Monday night at Vines Center, he knew he had found the zone. The shot was true, the sweet sound of swish unmarred by the clanging of basketball on rim.
A minute later, Blair dropped the sort of teardrop runner in the lane that makes him nearly unguardable. The ball was released at a point that made it nearly impossible to deflect, even by the tallest and most athletic defender.

When Blair enters that zone, it usually means trouble for the opponent, and that was the case for St. Francis (Pa.). Blair's barrage jumpstarted a game-defining second-half run in Liberty's 84-67 victory, the Flames' fifth straight since opening the season with a loss at Oklahoma.

Blair knew he was going to get hot because all he did in pregame warm-ups was toss bricks. He couldn't hit anything, a bad sign for most, but not an altogether bad issue for Blair.

"Usually when that happens, I concentrate more to get focused before the game," said Blair, who scored 21 points on 9 of 12 shooting to lead Liberty. "Then it comes to me. It feels good to be back."

It's not like Blair has struggled to score, but the points have harder to come by than usual. He scored 23 against Oklahoma but was 8 of 23 from the floor. Against Cincinnati Christian, he scored 27 on 9 of 16 shooting. He was 6 of 17 against East Carolina last Saturday and scored 15.

Because of newfound depth, the Flames haven't needed Blair to be spectacular every night to win. But it sure is pretty to watch when Blair gets in a rhythm.

"He's on pace to be a 2,000-point scorer in a Division I program," St. Francis coach Bobby Jones said. "When you can put those kind of numbers up, it can be very difficult to stop those guys once they get in a groove. I thought we kept him pretty much in check as much as we could in the first half. ? When he gets one of those kind of circus shots to fall for him, it energizes him and the crowd."

Liberty (5-1) needed that

energy. The Flames trailed 41-39 at halftime against their Northeast Conference opponent, which was coming off a four-point loss at home to a Bucknell team that reached the second round of last year's NCAA tournament.

Steve Profeta hit a 3-pointer to give the Red Flash its last lead, 46-45 with 16:03 left. Then Blair hit his long 3. The Flames forced a defensive stop and got the ball to Blair on the next possession and he hit the teardrop to put LU up 50-46. After another turnover, B.J. Jenkins dropped a 3 from the right corner to put LU up 53-46, and Liberty coasted from there.

"After he hit his first two shots, I looked at coach (Alexis) Sherard and said, 'he's feeling it tonight,'" Liberty coach Randy Dunton said. "He presses himself a little bit at times because he wants to do so much for the team. The other thing is that he's finally settling in to being able to trust these other guys."

Those "other guys" did their fair share of damage, too. Five Flames scored in double figures. Anthony Smith scored 18 points on 8 of 9 shooting. Damien Hubbard and Alex McLean (who was battling the flu) scored 12 each. Jenkins added 10 points.

It's not solely the Larry Blair show any more, and Blair, for one, is thankful.

"We have high-energy players who can get up and down the court," Blair said. "We've got an inside-outside presence to run plays and sets. We can mix it up. We've got better depth than last year, which will help us out."

That energy was on display in the second half, when Liberty did a nice job of pressuring the Red Flash into turnovers and missed shots. Liberty shot 66.7 percent in the second half. SFU (2-4) shot 32.3 percent after hitting 51.9 percent of its shots in the first half, and the Flames outscored the Red Flash 45-26 after the break.

TIP-INS: McLean was called for a technical foul late in the first half for slapping the backboard after a dunk. ? Devin Sweetney, who has already been named NEC newcomer of the week twice, matched a career high with 20 points to lead St. Francis. ? The teams will meet again Dec. 16 in Loretto, Pa.

[A.G.]

Hopefully we will get a great pre-exam week crowd (including me) to the game on Saturday. The kind of performance last night is pretty much what I expected out of this group--perhaps they've learned a lesson about playing hard from the ECU first half.

[jmdickens]

More wins means more fans.....it was a nice win.

[grm]

I wondered if there might be a letdown after ECU - and there obviously wasn't. I think this team is coming together, and that these two wins are very big for the program. Defense, hustle, teamwork, strength, depth,..... It's great.

[A.G.]

More wins means more fans.....it was a nice win.

WOW! I am glad I was sitting down for that one. Have a sip, Dickens.

[whmatthews]

I was in the tunnel during half time and McLean looked really sick and Tyler Baker was trying to encourage him, telling him to pick up his intesity and he'd be okay. At one time during the second half Alex went to the locker room with someone who had on gloves, carrying a trashcan. There may have been hurlage.

[jmdickens]

Okay, I have always said, I just WANT TO WIN!