ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. | Reginald Gee led three players in double figures for Alabama State, but it wasn't enough to overcome the hot-shooting of Liberty in a 73-55 loss to the Flames in the first of the St. Pete Shootout at the McArthur Center Friday morning.

Gee led Alabama State (2-8) with 12 points, while hitting on 2-of-5 three-pointers, and dished out a pair of assists in the loss. Meanwhile, Jacoby Ross and Leon Daniels each added 10 for the Hornets, with Ross dishing out a game-high five assists.

Alabama State shot 40 (18-of-45) percent from the floor in the loss, including 54.2 (13-of-24) percent in the second half. Meanwhile, they shot 47.4 (9-of-19) percent from beyond the arc and just 47.6 (10-of-21) percent from the free throw line, while forcing 18 Liberty turnovers.

"We came out early with the right mindset on defense and were able to knock down some early shots," Alabama State head coach Lewis Jackson said. "We got hung up a little bit early, and they were able to knock down some shots to take the lead. We got better today, the score may not indicate it but were able to find some good things out about our team today.

"We found some things to build on. We got Gee back in the starting lineup, and got him going. We got Jacoby and Leon both going today with some good shots, and got Ed (Jones) some time. We have some things we can improve on, and we will go back and watch the film on this one and learn from it. Although the scoreboard may not show it, we are getting better with the second season – the conference season – right around the corner when we come back from the break."

Keenan Gumbs led three players from Liberty (10-3) in double figures with 14 points, including knocking down all six of his free throw opportunities. Scottie James and Darius McGhee each added 11 for Liberty, with Gumbs also collecting seven rebounds.

Liberty finished the day shooting 60 (21-of-35) percent from the floor, including shooting 63.2 (12-of-19) percent from the floor in the first half. They also shot 52.9 (9-of-17) percent from beyond the arc, and 88 (22-of-25) percent from the free throw line.

Alabama State jumped out to a 5-2 lead early, before Liberty went on a 14-0 run to take a 16-5 lead midway through the first half. The Flames connected on seven three-pointers in the first half, out of the 12 total field goals made. The Hornets fell behind by as many as 23 in the second half, before they were able to trim it down to 11 with just over 11 minutes remaining in the contest. They had a chance to cut the lead to single digits twice, but the Hornets missed a pair of free throws and a three from the corner, before Liberty went on another run to push the lead back to 20.

Alabama State returns to action Saturday at 12 noon (est)/11 am (cst) in the third place game at the McArthur Center against either Austin Peay or Campbell. The game will be carried on the Hornet Sports Network, beginning at 11:45 am (est)/10:45 am (cst) with the pregame show.

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