FARMVILLE — Longwood’s 3-point defense, the best in the Big South Conference, prevented Liberty from getting into a perimeter shooting rhythm Saturday afternoon at Willett Hall.
Scottie James and Myo Baxter-Bell made sure the Flames’ offense got going in the paint.
The post duo allowed Liberty to remain competitive in the opening 19 minutes, and James was instrumental in a game-defining run that allowed the Flames to pull away and claim their third straight victory, a 67-55 triumph over the Lancers.
James, a 6-foot-7 redshirt-sophomore forward, scored 21 of his new career-high 28 points in the second half and he was 7 of 10 from the field in the final 20 minutes. He topped his previous career best of 21 points that came in Thursday’s win over Winthrop.
“It really helped for sure,” James said of the inside scoring. “Me and Myo both had a couple of buckets inside, Caleb [Homesley] had a couple of finishes, and it just opened it up for everybody else.”
James scored six points during the Flames’ 17-0 run that spanned the first and second halves, and his second of back-to-back baskets gave LU a 42-26 lead with 15:36 remaining.
The Flames (15-10, 6-6 Big South) held the Lancers (6-19, 3-9) without a field goal for nearly 8 minutes during that stretch.
Baxter-Bell, who scored all eight of his points in the first half, made a layup with 2:32 remaining in the first half to give the Flames a 25-24 lead. Following two Longwood free throws, the Flames unleashed the 17-0 run.
“I thought James was the difference of the game, and then Bell has eight points behind him. I think that they got as much as you can get out of that position that you possibly can,” Longwood coach Jayson Gee said. “It’s really a tribute to them because it wasn’t like we weren’t trying. We fronted, we tried to double some, and he just killed us inside. He just had a terrific game.”
James pulled down 11 rebounds to record his seventh double-double of the season.
Homesley came off the bench and produced his most complete statistical performance of the season with seven points, ninerebounds, four assists and a career-high five steals.
His steal and assist on Ezra Talbert’s breakaway dunk at the end of the first half capped a quick seven-point spurt to give the Flames a 32-26 halftime lead.
“I think that we did have our hands on a lot of balls that got tipped, and some of them we came away with and some of them we didn’t,” Homesley said, “but I think as a whole tonight, we did a great job on defense.”
The Flames held the Lancers to 34 percent shooting (16 for 47) to end an eight-game stretch of allowing opponents to shoot better than 40 percent from the floor.
Longwood was 9 of 30 from 3-point range.
The Flames weren’t much better from beyond the arc. LU matched its season low with four made 3-pointers, but relied on its solid inside play to pull away from the Lancers.
LU finished with 34 points in the paint.
“I think their game plan was to make sure they didn’t get beat from behind the arc, and we’ve been shooting it well, so they made it really hard for us on the perimeter,” Liberty coach Ritchie McKay said. “Scottie and Myo are real competitors and both are capable of scoring one-on-one in the paint. We had to take what’s available to us.”
Lovell Cabbil scored 10 points and pulled down four rebounds in his second game back from the right-knee injury.
Isaiah Walton, Longwood’s leading scorer, scored 20 points on 5-of-16 shooting. He also matched Chris Shields with a team-leading six rebounds.
The Lancers’ 54 points are the fewest the Flames have allowed since surrendering 59 in a two-point overtime loss at Radford on Jan. 15, and it marked the fifth time in Big South play LU has allowed fewer than 60 points.
