College basketball week ahead: Liberty comes calling to the First Coast for the last time
Liberty University comes to the First Coast to play at Jacksonville on Thursday and at North Florida on Saturday in ASUN men's games.
The Flames, who had their streak of three consecutive ASUN tournament championships broken last season, started showing chinks in their armor with losses of three points to the Ospreys and four to the Dolphins last season. For JU, the victory was especially sweet — it was their first over Liberty.
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The two games also will be the final appearances for the Flames in Jacksonville as ASUN members. Liberty will move to Conference USA for the 2023-24 season.
Area women’s teams will be mostly hitting the road this week, with six of the eight games away from home. UNF and JU will play both of their ASUN games in Kentucky against Bellarmine and Eastern Kentucky. The Ospreys and the Dolphins have a combined 8-1 record against those two teams.
Men
Player of the week: Flagler sophomore forward Kyle Young had 43 points and 25 rebounds in two games last week, with 20 points and 17 rebounds in an 89-84 overtime loss to Young Harris. He scored 19 of his 23 points in the second half in an 83-72 victory over Georgia Southwestern. Young hit 16 of 26 shots from the floor, including six of seven from beyond the 3-point arc. Young has six 20-plus scoring games and five double-doubles this season.
Stat line of the week: Edward Waters center Jonathan Kanyanga had six points, six blocked shots and 18 rebounds in the Tigers’ 93-86 victory over Paine.
This week’s games
Monday
Fort Lauderdale at Edward Waters, 7:30 p.m.
Tuesday
Pensacola Christian at Trinity Baptist, 8 p.m.
Wednesday
North Georgia at Flagler, 7:30 p.m.
Thursday
Liberty at Jacksonville, 7 p.m.
Queens at North Florida, 7 p.m.
Saturday
Liberty at North Florida, 2 p.m.
Flagler at Augusta, 3:30 p.m.
Queens at Jacksonville, 4 p.m.
Edward Waters at Savannah State, 4 p.m.
Noting UNF (7-11, 2-4 ASUN): The Ospreys lost an eight-point halftime lead on Saturday at Kennesaw in an 86-72 loss to the Owls. Kennesaw went on a 32-14 run to start the second half, with Chris Youngblood scoring eight points. UNF senior forward Carter Hendricksen had 20 points on eight of 14 shooting, and made three of four 3-pointers. KSU shot 56 percent and out-rebounded UNF 35-23. … In a 72-63 loss at Jacksonville State, UNF was out-rebounded 47-32. ... Junior guard Jarius Hicklen is shooting .292 overall and .256 from the 3-point arc in ASUN games. He’s three of 21 and two of 16 in his last two games. … The Ospreys have played Queens twice, but not since a 71-50 loss in 1996. ... UNF is unbeaten against Liberty at home or at neutral sites, with a 4-0 overall record. They won 72-69 at home last year.
Noting JU (10-7, 3-3): Senior guard Kevion Nolan had another stellar game at Jacksonville State – just a few miles from his hometown of Anniston, Ala. -- scoring 23 points in Saturday’s 68-62 victory. Nolan hit five of 10 3-pointers and handed out five assists. In two games against the Gamecocks in Alabama, Nolan has 42 points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists. … In an 81-66 loss earlier in the week at Kennesaw, senior guard Jordan Davis had 16 points and sophomore guard Gyasi Powell had 15. … The Dolphins’ 73-69 victory at home over Liberty last season was their first-ever victory over the Flames, ending an eight-game streak. It also came 25 days after JU lost to the Flames in Lynchburg, Va., 88-49, which remains the biggest margin of defeat for the Dolphins under Jordan Mincey.
Noting Edward Waters (3-11, 2-8 SIAC): The Tigers broke a nine-game losing streak by beating Paine 93-86 in overtime at home, with sophomore guard Cahlib Edwards scoring seven of their 13 overtime points and 26 in all. Sophomore guard Tavares Oliver added 25 points. … However, EWU dropped their next two games, 70-63 to visiting Fort Valley State and 66-63 in Saturday at Clark Atlanta. Oliver had 19 points against Fort Valley and senior center Larry Kuimi had 16 points and 16 rebounds against Clark.
Noting Trinity Baptist (8-5): The Eagles have won six in a row, capped by Saturday's 97-75 victory at Pasco-Hernandez. ... In beating Trinity College 87-61 on Wednesday in an NCCAA Region II game junior guard Zach Kiadii, a Westside graduate, had 17 points and junior center Fausto Alvarez, a Bartram Trail graduate, added 16.
Noting Flagler (8-9, 2-4 Peach Belt): The Saints lost 89-84 in a home overtime game on Saturday to conference leader Young Harris. Down five with 29 seconds to go in regulation, Malik Bryant made a foul shot, made a layup after a Tyler Collier steal and Kyle Young made two free throws with one second left. However, Josh Petteno scored nine of Young Harris’ 13 points in overtime. Bryant had 23 points and Young had 20 points and 17 rebounds. … The Saints have some motivation against North Georgia on Wednesday: they lost 86-85 in overtime in Dahlonega, snapping a three-game winning streak. Flagler also had won seven of the previous eight meetings. ... Augusta won twice at home last season against the Saints, the second in the Peach Belt tournament.
Women
Player of the week: Jacksonville senior forward Shynia Jackson had 57 points and 17 rebounds in three games for the Dolphins. She hit 20 of 40 shots from the floor, including 10 of 17 for 20 points against Liberty.
Stat line of the week: Flagler senior forward N’Mya Pierce had 12 points and 15 rebounds in the Saints’ victory over Young Harris. It was her sixth double-double of the season.
This week’s games
Tuesday
Pensacola Christian at Trinity Baptist, 6 p.m.
Wednesday
North Georgia at Flagler, 5:30 p.m.
Thursday
Jacksonville at Eastern Kentucky, 7 p.m.
North Florida at Bellarmine, 7 p.m.
Saturday
Jacksonville at Bellarmine, 1 p.m.
Flagler at Augusta, 1:30 p.m.
North Florida at Eastern Kentucky, 2 p.m.
Edward Waters at Savannah State, 2 p.m.
Noting UNF (5-10, 2-3): UNF played short-handed last week due to injuries and illness, and split two games. The victory was a big one, however, as the Ospreys topped Liberty 68-58. Freshman Maddie Millar, a Bishop Kenny graduate, scored a career-high 19 points and made five of eight three-points and senior guard Elysa Wesolek had 20 points, her best as an Ospreys player. … UNF fell to Queens 68-53 on Saturday, with sophomore guard Jaelyn Swann leading with 15 points. … The Ospreys have a combined 5-0 record against this week’s opponents, Bellarmine and Eastern Kentucky. They won both games by double digits last year, beating Bellarmine 85-63 and EKU 78-64.
Noting JU (8-7, 2-3 ASUN): The ASUN schedule pitted Liberty against JU twice in six days, and the Dolphins lost both, 81-66 last Sunday at home and 65-53 on Saturday in Lynchburg, Va. Senior guard DeShari Graham, who had 15 points in the first game, did not play in the second. Senior forward Shynia Jackson had 20 points and five rebounds and senior guard Seraphine Bastin added 14 points, four rebounds and four assists. … JU beat Queens 79-67 between those two games, with Jackson scoring 22 points and Bastin collecting 19 points, eight rebounds and four assists. … The Dolphins won their first-ever meeting against Eastern Kentucky 77-60 last year, and topped Bellarmine 64-46 in their only meeting of the season.
Noting Edward Waters (8-8, 4-6 SIAC): The Tigers have won three of four games, capped by Saturday’s 60-57 road victory over Clark Atlanta. Senior center Emari Bell’s layup with 39 seconds left put EWU up 58-57 and junior guard Jourdan Avery hit two free throws with eight seconds left. Junior forward Khadija Smith had 19 point and made seven of 10 shots from the floor. … Avery had 18 points and six steals in a 58-54 victory over Fort Valley State.
Noting Trinity Baptist (4-9, 1-1 in NCCAA South Region II): The Eagles split two games last week, beating Trinity College (Fla.) 60-51 in New Port Richey, then falling to Grace Christian (Mich.) 65-59 at home. The victory over Trinity was the Eagles’ first region victory of the season, and freshman forward Katie Bogun led with 21 points and 12 rebounds. Oceane Tabbak added 12 points. In the loss to Grace Christian, senior forward Triniti Snead, an Impact Christian graduate, led with 18 points.
Noting Flagler (4-12, 1-5): The Saints won their first Peach Belt Conference game of the season on Saturday in overtime at home against Young Harris, 61-57. Sophomore guard Sharale McCormick tied the game 54-54 on a 3-pointer with nine seconds left in regulation and sophomore guard Taylor Gardner of Jacksonville dropped another 3-pointer midway through overtime to put the Saints ahead for good. Gardner had 15 points, eight rebounds and five assists. ... The Saints have not been able to break North Georgia’s domination of the series. Their 72-46 loss on Dec. 10 was their sixth in a row and North Georgia leads the rivalry 23-3. ... Flagler has split its last six meetings with Augusta.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: College basketball: Jacksonville, North Florida to host Liberty
