Freshman Perry powers Stetson to 48-43 victory over Liberty

DELAND, Fla. (AP) — Freshman Rob Perry finished with 22 points and seven rebounds and Stetson dominated the second half and beat Liberty 48-43 on Saturday.

Perry made three of Stetson’s four 3-pointers in the game as the Hatters (11-11, 5-2 Atlantic Sun Conference) upped their longest win streak since 2013 to five. Fellow freshman Mahamadou Diawara added 15 points

Liberty, which had been receiving votes in the AP poll, raced to a 29-18 halftime lead. Diawara hit a jumper, Perry made back-to-back 3-pointers and Christiaan Jones added a layup as the Hatters scored the first eight points of the second half to get back in it. Stetson, which trailed by as many as 14 in the first half, grabbed its first lead at 37-36 on a Perry layup with 5:31 remaining. Jones then turned two Liberty turnovers into layups and the Hatters never trailed again.

Scottie James paced the Flames (19-3, 5-2) with 12 points and 10 rebounds for his fifth double-double of the year. Darius McGhee added 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting from distance. Liberty has dropped two straight after winning 19 of its first 20 games.

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