Konan leads Liberty past MVSU 72-53 Eds: APNewsNow. Liberty 72, Mississippi Valley State 53.

CHICAGO (AP) Patrick Konan scored 16 points and had nine rebounds Friday as Liberty pulled away in the second half and beat Mississippi Valley State 72-53 in the Chicago Invitational Challenge.

Evan Gordon added 14 points and Kyle Ohman 12 for the Flames (2-5). Guard Jesse Sanders had a team-high 11 rebounds. Liberty won despite making only 5 of 21 shots from 3-point range.

Julius Cheeks scored 18 and Shannon Behling had all 10 of his points in the first half for MVSU (1-5). The Delta Devils made only 8 of 28 shots in the second half.

Liberty's Chris Perez hit a fast-break basket and 3-pointer to highlight a 13-0 run midway through the second half as the Flames took a 55-40 lead.

MVSU whittled the lead to eight with about five minutes to play but could get no closer.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.) APNP 11-27-09 1645CST | save this article / add to your favorites list