Liberty Christian Academy struggled in their home loss to Mississippi Valley Christian last weekend. 

Liberty Christian (12-8, 7-1 Metro) fell behind 5-3 in the first quarter and trailed the rest of the game in their 58-42 loss to the Warriors. 

“What I saw was five kids wearing white shirts who refused to trust in their offense and run it,” Liberty Christian Academy Head Coach Butch Clark said. “And they resorted to playing street ball. And that’s just about as simple as I can put it.”

Despite trailing most of the first half, Liberty Christian trailed by just five points at halftime. After Liberty Christian cut the deficit to three points on Jack Duvel’s two point basket, the Eagles were outscored 15-7 for the remainder of the third quarter and trailed 39-28 heading into the final quarter. 

With the Eagles trailing by double digits heading into the final quarter, their strategy was to get to the free throw line late in the game, Clark said. The Eagles were unable to connect on free throws in the fourth quarter and throughout the game. They shot 14-29 from the free throw line over the course of the game. 

“They struggle because they refuse to work at it,” Clark said. “That’s just as simple as I can put it. They have an unwillingness to commit. They’d rather come out and shoot and get fancy. We can’t get fancy enough. There’s not a pass that we can’t put enough mustard on for the hot dog. I mean, you know, it’s just ridiculous. Simple’s not good enough.”

The Eagles were led by senior Jack Duvel, who scored 15 points. Willy Mueller added 10 points. Levi Coovert led Liberty Christian with 13 rebounds. 

The Eagles rebounded from their loss with a 78-50 win over Crosspoint Christian Tuesday. The Eagles  jumped out to a 43-25 halftime lead in the win. Tommy Meyer led the Eagles with 23 points. Duvel added 17 points. Coovert and Mueller each scored 10 points.  

With the win, the Eagles will have the opportunity to play for a conference title Friday at Westwood Baptist. Tipoff is slated for 6:30 p.m. Friday.