Liberty closed the game on a 7-0 run to pull out a 73-64 road win over the UTEP Miners and improve to a perfect 14-0 in Conference USA play, Saturday afternoon at the Don Haskins Center.

The Flames run their overall winning streak to 16 games, the third longest in the nation, and improve to 22-3 on the year. Liberty is a perfect 8-0 in CUSA road games after the triumph. UTEP drops to 10-16 overall and 6-9 in CUSA following the setback. The Miners, who had won back-to-back games coming into the day, fall to 8-6 at home and 4-4 in league games at the Don Haskins Center.

JJ Harper led the way on the offensive end for Liberty with 18 points while adding six rebounds, an assist, two blocks and a steal. Brett Decker Jr. (17 points), Zach Cleveland (13 points, six rebounds, five assists) and Colin Porter (10 points, three steals) joined Harper in double figures.

The Flames trailed by 10 in the first half, 25-15, before closing the stanza on a 13-1 run to take a 28-26 lead into the break.

In the second half, Liberty used a 12-2 run to take its biggest lead of the game, 53-41, with 9:05 to go on a Kaden Metheny layup. UTEP closed the gap and got within three, 60-57 at the 3:40 mark following a Kaseem Watson layup. The Miners cut the deficit to two, 66-64 at the 1:42 mark on a Watson layup, but Liberty answered with a 7-0 run to win by nine. Colin Porter hit a crucial fadeaway jumper late in the shot clock at the 1:09 mark to bump the lead to 68-64. After a defensive stop on the other end on a blocked shot by JJ Harper, Brett Decker Jr. knocked down two free throws. Following another stop, Porter buried two shots from the charity stripe for a 72-64 lead with 19 seconds left. Liberty’s Zander Carter connected on one last foul shot for the final point of the game.

The Flames will return home to face the FIU Panthers (12-13, 5-9 CUSA), Thursday night. Tip time from Liberty Arena is 6 p.m. The game can be seen on CBS Sports Network.

Liberty claimed the first meeting on the road at FIU by a 97-94 score in overtime, Dec. 28 in the CUSA opener.