Liberty takes down Sam Houston 79-72

Published Mar. 7, 2026 5:03 p.m. ET

Associated Press

LYNCHBURG, Va. (AP) — Zach Cleveland's 19 points helped Liberty defeat Sam Houston 79-72 on Saturday.

Cleveland also contributed nine rebounds and nine assists for the Flames (25-6, 17-3 Conference USA). Brett Decker Jr. added 16 points and five rebounds. Colin Porter shot 4 of 12 from the field to finish with 15 points.

Veljko Ilic finished with 21 points and two steals for the Bearkats (21-10, 13-7). Jacob Walker added 13 points for Sam Houston. Kashie Natt had 16 rebounds and 11 points.

Liberty led Sam Houston at the half, 41-31, with Cleveland (12 points) its high scorer before the break. Cleveland's layup with 1:39 left in the second half gave Liberty the lead for good at 70-68.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.