Pacheco-Ortiz leads Liberty to historic Big South mark (Feb 23, 2017)

By AP
Published

LYNCHBURG, Va. (AP) Georgie Pacheco-Ortiz scored 13 points with three 3-pointers and Liberty defeated Longwood 61-45 on Thursday night to win 14 games in Big South Conference play for the first time.

The Flames (19-11, 14-3) made 22 field goals Thursday, 10 from 3-point range and remain in a second-place tie with Winthrop. They close the regular season Saturday at Big South leader UNC-Asheville.

The freshman Pacheco-Ortiz rebounded from a scoreless 0-for-5 performance a week ago to score in double figures each of the last two games. Brock Gardner scored 11 points on 5-for-6 shooting and Ryan Kemrite had 10 with two 3-pointers.

Khris Lane led Longwood (6-22, 3-14) with 14 points. The Lancers hung close to Liberty through a 31-26 first half, but the Flames opened the second half with 3-pointers from Lovell Cabill, John Dawson and Pacheco-Ortiz and held Longwood scoreless for more than five minutes.

Liberty also had nine steals and forced 20 Longwood turnovers.