For nearly a quarter and a half of Liberty Christian’s game Thursday, senior forward Willy Mueller and his teammates got anything and everything they wanted against host Winfield.

For as good as things were, though, they quickly evaporated, as what had been a double-digit lead turned into a 50-45 defeat due to a less-than-stellar finish.

“The shots weren’t falling and we weren’t taking the best shots, either,” Mueller said. “Especially our free throws. They were what it came down to and we’ve got to work hard and start hitting our free throws.”

Liberty converted on just three of its 14 attempts. Mueller made three of his seven free throws and the rest of the team went 0-for-7 at the line.

Eagles coach Butch Clark said that the team earned everything it got on Thursday.

The coach said he felt the mental approach after a 16-4 first quarter in Liberty’s favor was questionable, at best.

“This is a game he should have won by 15 points, minimum,” Clark said. “When you shoot free throws as poorly as we shot them and you make brain-dead decisions on the court like we did, on offense and defense, you deserve whatever happens. We got exactly what we deserved.”

While Liberty (18-6) struggled to make its shots, even those that were unguarded, Winfield managed to heat up over the final three quarters.

The Warriors sank six 3-pointers, led by four from senior guard Camden Burk, over the course of the final three quarters. Burk led the Warriors with 12 points.

In deference to Liberty Christian, Winfield managed to sink eight of the team’s 13 free throws.

“It all came down, in the end, to free throws,” Mueller said. “We didn’t get the job done.”

Mueller led Liberty with 21 points while junior guard Phoenix Obermann added 11 in the loss.

Liberty Christian will now turn its collective attention to the Metro Athletic Conference tournament, which runs Feb. 7-13 at Thomas Jefferson School and the Gateway Christian Academy of Greater St. Louis.

The Eagles, the event’s No. 2 seed, will begin at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday against Providence Christian, a team Liberty beat 76-33 on Nov. 18.

With a win, Liberty will play in the semifinal round at 6 p.m., Tuesday at Thomas Jefferson and, should the team advance, a potential date with conference top seed Westwood Baptist awaits.

Westwood beat Liberty 87-54 on Dec. 19 at home to hand the Eagles the team’s only conference loss.

“We’re going to have to get into the gym for practice tomorrow and work on our plays,” Mueller said. “We’re also going to have to shoot a lot of free throws. We’ve got to be better shooting our free throws.”