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Liberty became the first team in the Big South Conference to beat UNC Asheville this weekend when they took the Bulldogs 83-54.

"Liberty is a good team and we knew tonight would be tough," said Head Coach Eddie Biedenbach. "We just didn't play well enough in any way to get a win."

The Flames shot 68 percent during the second half, while the Bulldogs shot only 30 percent.

"We just gave up way too many easy baskets in the second half," Biedenbach said. "We did a nice job rallying from a tough start in the first half, but didn't grind things out in the second half. We tried to shoot our way back in the game instead of playing basketball the right way."

Liberty got off to a strong start and gained a 14-1 lead after the first eight minutes, but Asheville rallied back and was able to cut the lead to 31-29 by halftime.

Reid Augst hit two three pointers in the beginning of the second half to put the Bulldogs up 35-31, but Liberty answered with a 21-6 run, taking control of the game.

"We allowed penetration for easy baskets and then allowed penetration for wide-open three-pointers," said Biedenbach. "We didn't do a good job rebounding and just didn't play well enough on offense in the second half."

Player injuries were another contributing factor to the loss, according to senior Bryan Smithson.

"Kenny was sitting out, K.J.'s beat up playing 40 minutes a game and I've got two bum wheels right now, so we definitely had some injuries that didn't help the cause," Smithson said. "But overall I think they caught us on a bad night and they played real well offensively and defensively and we didn't follow the game plan."

Smithson scored only 6 points in Saturday's game, a far cry from the career-high 31 he scored in their first meeting earlier in the season.

The absence of Kenny George was another hindrance, Smithson said.

"Kenny dominates the game like nobody else can," said Smithson. "He can change the game on both ends. He gives you an outlet, when you need a basket you can go to Kenny and he shoots 70 percent from the field, so it hurt us. We're looking forward to him coming back sometime soon and hopefully that's the case."

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