Liberty upsets UNC Asheville 69-64, faces Radford in finals

Mar 3, 2018, 03:52 am

ASHEVILLE, N.C. -- Scottie James grabbed 18 rebounds and scored 14 points, including a go-ahead free throw with 3:34 to play, and fifth-seeded Liberty upset top-seeded UNC-Asheville 69-64 in Friday night's Big South Conference Tournament semifinals.

Lovell Cabbil scored 14 points and made all five of his free throws for the Flames (20-13), who face No. 2 seed Radford in Sunday's championship game.

Liberty rallied from 13 down in the first half and James' free throw amid a 15-0 run tied it at 56. Caleb Homesley hit a 3-pointer in the run and Liberty led 66-56 on Cabbil's free throw with 33 seconds left. The Bulldogs closed to 67-64 on Raekwon Miller's 3, but Cabbill's two free throws iced it and Jonathan Baehre's jumper with three seconds left missed.

The Flames outscored the Bulldogs 28-14 in the paint and held them to 34.6 percent shooting from the field to win 20-plus games in back-to-back seasons for the first time.

Miller and Macio Teague scored 19 points apiece and Ahmad Thomas added 11 for the Bulldogs (21-12).