Conway, SC – Davon Marshall dropped in 28 points as the Liberty Flames took care of the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers, 78-61, in the opening round of the Big South Tournament at the HTC Center.
Tomasz Gielo had 14 points off the bench and John Caleb Sanders added 10 points for Liberty (12-20) which has won three of its last four games. The Flames will face High Point in the quarterfinals on Thursday.
Anthony Raffa scored a game-high 23 points, Kierre Greenwood added 19 points and Michael Enanga grabbed 11 rebounds for Coastal Carolina (14-15).
Liberty clung to a 38-35 lead at halftime despite shooting 37 percent from the field as the Flames earned a 14-6 edge from the free-throw line and a 12-3 advantage from beyond the arc. Coastal Carolina hit 48.3 percent from the field in the first 20 minutes.
After the break the Chanticleers cooled to 28.6 percent shooting while missing all eight shots from beyond the arc. The Flames improved to 46.2 percent shooting while notching 5-of-11 from 3-point range to pull away for the win.
Liberty had the edge in rebounds (41-33) and had a 27-3 advantage from long range. Coastal Carolina outscored the Flames, 40-24, in the paint.
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