FARMVILLE, Va. – Ryan Kemrite scored 22 points and hit five three-pointers to lead a long-range barrage that lifted Liberty to a 93-62 win against Longwood Thursday evening in Willett Hall.
 
Behind Kemrite's 5-of-7 shooting performance from beyond the arc, Liberty (12-10, 7-3 Big South) netted season highs in points, made three-pointers and three-point percentage against an injury-depleted Longwood team that is now down to just seven scholarship players.
 
"All the three-point shooters just made it difficult from a matchup standpoint," said Longwood head coach Jayson Gee. "We just couldn't contain the dribble-penetration, and once they penetrated, it left shooters open for threes. Going into this game we talked about needing to find a way to contain the ball-handler, and we weren't able to do that."
 
Seven different Flames hit a trey on a night when Liberty knocked down 17-of-30 three-pointers en route to their fifth win in the past six games. Liberty opened the first half hitting eight of their first 10 shots from beyond the arc, including five straight during a 15-2 run in the first 10 minutes of the game.
 
The short-handed Lancers struggled to contain a Liberty backcourt that saw four guards score in double figures, including Kemrite's 22, Lovell Cabbil and John Dawson's 13, and Georgie Pacheco-Ortiz's 12. Those four combined for 12 three-pointers, eight assists and a .677 (21-of-31) shooting percentage from the floor.
 
"At the end of the day, Liberty really just shot it out," Gee said. "I thought there were times in the first half when we got some good shots. We just didn't make them. But I thought they really shot the ball really well. Seventeen threes is a lot of threes for anybody to make."
 
With four scholarship players out due to significant injury or illness, the Lancers (6-14, 3-6 Big South) had few countermeasures available to combat the sharpshooting Flames. After redshirt sophomore point guard Bryan Gee became the most recent casualty of a season-ending ailment this week, Longwood was forced to spread 95 percent of the game's minutes around to just six players.
 
Shouldering a team-high 39 of those minutes was senior guard Darrion Allen, who finished with 20 points for his fourth 20-point game of the season. He hit 13-of-14 free throws, falling one shy of tying Longwood's Division I single-game made free throw record, and climbed to within 33 points of reaching 1,000 for his career.
 
"His effort is great. I just hate that he has to fill in so many gaps for us," Gee said of Allen. "He's only human, and he can only do so much. I thought he stayed focused, he tried to keep our team together and he encouraged his teammates. He didn't shoot the ball well from the field, but he was aggressive and he was able to get to the free throw line. Any time you shoot 14 free throws in a game, that says a lot."
 
Longwood forward and team scoring leader Khris Lane added 19 points, carrying the Lancers early with 10 first-half points. That production came on 6-of-13 shooting – including two three-pointers – despite facing a bombardment of double teams.
 
Sophomore forward Chris Shields contributed all 11 of Longwood's bench points.
 
The Lancers have just two days to recover before heading to Presbyterian where they will vie for season sweep of the Blue Hose after taking the first game 79-76 back on Jan. 4. Tipoff is set for 5 p.m. in Clinton, S.C.
 
"It's a long, long road," Gee said. "We still have nine games left, and we have a big one coming up Saturday."

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