Big NCAA Loser Wins Big By Losing
Liberty becomes the second team to make the field of 68 with 20 losses.
Liberty becomes the second team to make the field of 68 with 20 losses.
(Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty)
At this point in the season, we are usually talking about teams making history in the win column, but it was the astounding number in the loss column for the Liberty Flames men’s basketball team that made history on Sunday.
Dale Layer’s team completed their improbable run in the Big South tournament by defeating Charleston Southern, 87-76, at the HTC Center in Conway, S.C., to earn the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Men’s Division I Basketball Championship.
With the victory, Liberty became just the second team in history to lose 20 games in a season and clinch a spot in the tournament.
The only other team to qualify for the tournament after a 20-loss regular season wasCoppin State of the MEAC, which fell in the First Four to Mount St. Mary’s in 2008.
In their conquest of the Big South, the Flames took down the No. 1 teams from both the North and South divisions.
After defeating host team Coastal Carolina in the first round, the Flames defeated High Point, which finished first in the North, in the quarterfinals.
With their confidence soaring, the Flames were able to squeeze out a victory over Gardner-Webb in the semifinals before they took down the winners of the South division, tournament favorite Charleston Southern, in the championship game.
Now, Liberty will most likely be sent to Dayton for the First Four games on March 19 and 20.
Check out the rest of the article right here via our friends at Bleacher Report!
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