When Grandview Sophomore Tyrone Taylor drained a 3 to start the game, the Liberty North Eagles Men Basketball team could have pouted and thought “Here we go again”, remembering the last time these two teams met when Grandview rocked the Eagles at home 69-47. Yet the Eagles did not back down, as they went right down the court and Junior Jake Hanson hit a 3 of his own. The Eagles fought for 32 minutes and never backed down or gave up. This fighter mentality might have been the key to the Eagles victory on this night.

Head Coach Chris McCabe used his pregame speech to try to encourage his team and to emphasize that they belong in this game despite being depicted as an underdog.

“I just told the guys that we were good enough to be here and to win this game. This wasn’t a David vs. Goliath story, and if they trusted in each other and played hard for thirty-two minutes they could win,” Head Men’s Basketball Coach Chris McCabe said.

The Eagles, fueled by what was on the line in this game, continued battling through out the first quarter and found themselves only trailing 11-15 at the end of the quarter. The team had not traveled all this way just to keep up with Grandview though; they were here to beat Grandview.

Grandview came out swinging in the second quarter determined to take full control of the game. They turned up the pressure and dictated the tempo the whole quarter as they were able to extend their lead to seven leading 31-24 at halftime.

The Eagles went to the locker room knowing they needed to regroup. They knew they could still win this game; they just had to keep fighting. This team was not about to roll over and give up.

“At halftime coach emphasized what we need to do to win this game.  Playing tough defense and rebounding. We kept telling ourselves that we were still in the game and we knew we had to come out in the second half and play our best or we were done,” Junior Jake Hanson said.

The Eagles spent the next twelve minutes fighting their way back into the game cutting the lead to five with four minutes to go. When Sophomore Brinkley Jolly made a basket while drawling a foul, then hit a free throw to cut the Grandview lead to two.

Liberty North took their first lead of the game with 3 minutes left in the fourth quarter when Senior Garrett Loew hit a clutch free throw giving the Eagles a 49-48 lead.

After a great defensive possession Jolly was fouled and sent to the free throw line where he hit 2 free throws to help cap off a 17-2 run that gave the Eagles the 56-50 victory and a ticket to the Final 4 in Columbia.

“I was so excited. I was trying to calm myself down, telling myself to focus. I was trying so hard not to bust out in a huge smile,” Sophomore Brinkley Jolly said.

The team had lived by two mottos all season: Be your Best and Family, and on this night the Eagles stuck together even when the game looked lost the Eagles never gave up on each other as Grandview slowly began to unravel.

“I’m so proud of how are guys continued to fight and never backed down, they earned that win and I’m excited for the opprutunity that they now have in front of them and I’m excited for all the fans and the school and im just thankful for all their support of our program,” McCabe said.

The Eagles now are one of only four teams remaining in their classification. They will play Soldan International Studies on March 9 at 8:20 pm at Mizzou Arena in Columbia, Missouri.