DAYTON, Ohio (AP) -- Liberty's players and coaches woke up at 4:30 a.m. Monday for their charter flight. Instead of departing the airport at 7 in the morning, plane trouble kept them grounded for several hours. <\/p>\n
Not even that could ruin coach Dale Layer's mood. <\/p>\n
''On 2 1\/2 hours of sleep, an 8-hour plane delay - hey, it's great to be in Dayton!'' Layer said with a wide smile. <\/p>\n
After where the Flames have been this season, what's a few more hours? It's amazing they needed aircraft to fly to the NCAA tournament. <\/p>\n
Despite losing their first eight games and having a 10-20 record late in the season, they won their final five games including the Big South title to reserve a spot opposite North Carolina A&T in the NCAA First Four on Tuesday night at the University of Dayton Arena. <\/p>\n
The game pits two of the most unlikely of teams in any NCAA tournament. After all, A&T (18-16) was nearing a 16th consecutive losing season just two weeks ago - before it surged to take the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference tournament title. <\/p>\n
Yet the journey of Liberty, an evangelical Christian school in Lynchburg, Va., surpasses just about any other stone-casting David in the tournament's history. Only one other team has ever made the NCAA field with 20 losses - Coppin State in 2008. <\/p>\n
''The low point was probably the beginning of the year when we were 0-8,'' guard Davon Marshall said. ''Guys started to quit. It was a lot of long days of practice. Guys were down on themselves, thinking about next year.'' <\/p>\n
Injuries, defections and some difficult games conspired to send the Flames off on that abysmal start. <\/p>\n
''When you're 0-8, a lot of people quit,'' Layer said. ''Men quit. Grown-ups quit. But our guys just kept coming back. I told them in January, 'There's going to be a story in March about somebody - there is every year - that's a Cinderella story.' And I said, 'Why couldn't it be us?''' <\/p>\n
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Improbably, Liberty and A&T make NCAA field<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" DAYTON, Ohio (AP) -- Liberty's players and coaches woke up at 4:30 a.m. Monday for their charter flight. Instead of departing the airport at 7 in the morning, plane trouble kept them grounded for several hours Continue reading