Liberty 76, S. Virginia 51

By foxsports
Published

John Caleb Sanders came off the bench to score 14 points as Liberty won its first game of the season, beating Southern Virginia 76-51 Tuesday.

Liberty's starters opened the game making just 1 of 7 shots. After a mass substitution, the Flames made four of their next five shots to take a 16-12 lead behind a Chad Donley 3-pointer.

Southern Virginia (4-2) closed the gap to 18-17 but Donley hit another trey, sparking an 18-8 run over the final 8 minutes of the half.

Liberty (1-8) shot 13 of 26, compared to just 10 of 29 for Southern Virginia, and got 22 bench points in the first half.

Sanders' two free throws at the 5:36 mark of the second half put Liberty up 64-46.

Liberty shot a season-high 57.4 percent (27 of 47) from the field, including 7 of 14 from deep.

Isaac Jacobson led Southern Virginia with 16 points.