The Liberty Christian boys basketball team is feeling realistic as they head into the Metro Athletic Conference tournament on Feb. 4. The Eagles finished third in the conference standings after dropping to Heritage Classic and Westwood Baptist earlier this season. 

The Eagles currently hold a 14-7 record overall. 

Head Coach Butch Clark believes there needs to be a serious improvement in turnovers and assists in order to win the conference tournament. He noted the team is averaging about 19 turnovers a game, compared to 10 assists. 

“Those are things that we’ve got to correct and we’ve shown a few flashes at times. We had about a seven game streak late in December and early January where we did that, and our results were a lot better,” Clark said. “If we can solve that, who knows what we’re capable of.” 

Clark also specified shooting as an area that needs to be cleaned up. 

“We’re going to have to play a game where we shoot the ball better and don’t turn it over, and that’s doable. We have the talent to do that, we just have to be more careful with it,” Clark said. “If we get that corrected, we’re going to be better. If we don’t we’re probably going to see the same type of results as we’ve been seeing.” 

The Eagles have only dropped two conference games this season to both Heritage Classic 46-34 and Westwood Baptist 48-24. With the Eagles likely to face one or both of these teams during the conference tournament, Clark noted it’s imperative for Willy Mueller to get involved. 

He went on to say Mueller typically averages around 15 points per game, but against these teams, he is averaging roughly eight points. 

“We’re going to have to find a way to get him to where he can get the points that we need out of him, and not just him. Tommy [Meyer] is going to have to come up big,” Clark said. 

Clark noted that the depth of their bench will also be a benefit, as they typically have nine or 10 players in rotation. 

“The seeding doesn’t mean anything,” Clark said while recalling being the No. 7 seed two years ago and beating the No. 2 seed. “We’ll be ready to play. Whether we play well will be a different story but I think they’re looking forward to the challenge.” 

Clark added it has been a challenging year for the Eagles, but he knows they have enough talent to win. While he does not necessarily classify themselves as an underdog, he added in conference play anything can happen. 

“The team that plays the best in a tournament is a team that’s going to win most nights. All you have to do is battle it up for three games,” Clark said. 

Liberty Christian will find out their opponent in the MAC tournament on Feb. 1.