No. 19 Glenelg can thank its free-throw shooting for last night's 64-42 win over Liberty.
The Gladiators, who are shooting more than 60 percent from the line, hit 19 last night -- nearly the margin of victory.
Thirteen of them came in the first half -- and they were the difference in a 31-18 halftime score.
The Lions (0-6), who had been shooting around 19 percent from the floor, raised that to 39 percent in the first half, but they could not keep up from the free-throw line because they never got the chance.
Liberty coach Tom Delise was not happy with the disparity in free-throw attempts. The Gladiators went to the line 17 times in the first half, while the Lions did not get there at all.
"I'm sorry," said Delise, "but they were setting illegal picks and the referees would not make that call. They made it in the second half, but second half doesn't do me a whole lot of good. The first half you set the tone."
The Gladiators (4-1) needed those free throws because they missed layup after layup in the first half, nine in the second quarter alone.
"We've been doing that since day one," said Glenelg coach Randy Wallenhorst. "It's concentration."
The Gladiators ran up a 9-2 lead and never trailed, but they could not deliver the knockout punch until they outscored the Lions, 15-6, in the last five minutes of the third quarter. That rally put the Gladiators ahead 48-29.
"We're kind of struggling a little bit to know each other," said point guard Kim Brown. "Once that comes, I think we'll be a force to be reckoned with. Right now, we're trying to find our identity and how we want to play."
Jill Younce led Glenelg with 22 points, 10 rebounds and six steals while Brown added 13 points, seven assists and five steals.
Natalie Hannibal led the Lions with 14 points.
Last night was the first time the Lions finished with a higher shooting percentage than their opponent.
Although the 32 percent they finished with last night isn't anything to shout about, it's better than the 19 percent they had been averaging.
"In defense of my team, we have played three top-ranked teams -- [No. 10] Howard, [No. 4] Hammond and now them," said Delise.
"Those are some quality teams right there. I felt we did ourselves pretty good today. We had our breakdowns, but there were some things we did a whole lot better."