Liberty Flames' Valiant Effort Falls Short in Overtime Against Bulldogs at Thomas Assembly Center

The Liberty Flames, with a record of 0-0, faced off against the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs, also at 0-0, in a game that pushed both teams to their limits. The final score read 80-76 in favor of the home team after an intense overtime period.

The Flames came out strong in the first half, putting up 37 points against the Bulldogs' 30. Their offensive efforts were led by impressive three-point shooting, making ten out of twenty-seven attempts for a solid 37 percent from beyond the arc. The team's overall field goal percentage stood at 43 percent with twenty-six made shots out of sixty attempts.

Defensively, Liberty managed to block two shots and steal the ball eight times from their opponents. These defensive plays contributed to fourteen points off turnovers. However, despite these efforts and leading by seven points at halftime, they couldn't maintain their lead throughout the second half.

The Flames showed resilience on both ends of the court as they fought to keep up with Louisiana Tech's pace. They ended regular play tied with their opponents but fell short during overtime where they scored seven points compared to Louisiana Tech's eleven.

Liberty’s players worked hard under pressure and demonstrated teamwork with fourteen assists on their twenty-six field goals made. Their assist-to-turnover ratio was notable at 1.56 despite committing nine turnovers themselves throughout the game.

On rebounding front, Liberty gathered thirty-two rebounds – six offensive and twenty-two defensive – contributing significantly to second-chance opportunities which resulted in seven second-chance points for them.

Free throws were another area where Liberty showed competence; they hit fourteen out of nineteen free throw attempts which rounded up to a respectable seventy-four percent completion rate.

Despite these commendable efforts by Liberty Flames players across various facets of gameplay including scoring twenty-eight points in paint and securing six fast break points; it was not enough to secure victory over Louisiana Tech who finished strong especially during overtime play.