Liberty got at least one basketball game in last week when they took on Whitehall Saturday night, but a 57-53 loss wasn't what the Hurricanes had in mind.

The Zephyrs (7-2, 4-0) used a fourth-quarter surge to pull away down the stretch to keep their hot start to the season. Liberty (6-3, 2-2) played again without the services of KJ Williams, who has been out since before the holiday break with an ankle injury.

He has been medically cleared to play, but head coach Chad Landis didn't want to put Williams on the floor without having a practice under his belt.

"We couldn't practice on Thursday and Friday because of the snow and I didn't want to just throw him out there on the court after being out for a couple weeks," Landis said. "He's cleared to play and he'll be back on the floor this week, but we've certainly missed him."

Liberty could have certainly used Williams' presence in the midst of the fifth straight game they've played without him, since he injured his ankle on Dec 20 in a loss to Freedom.

The Hurricanes, now losers of two straight heading into this week, leaned on Deshawn Oyeniyi's 25 points against the Zephyrs.

That wasn't enough, as Brett Radocha (13), Aaron Keglovits (11) and Jake Meyers (11) all finished in double figures to give Whitehall a league-best 4-0 mark in the LVC.

Oyeniyi was the only Liberty player in double figures, as Jaevan Dobbins added seven points, while Amir Griffin and Trenton Bishop each chipped in six points.

Landis wasn't sounding off the alarm in the aftermath of the loss to Whitehall, noting the difficult matchup Whitehall presents this year.

"They do a good job by playing their zone and shooting the ball well," Landis said. "When you try to speed it up, they can play fast too. They're a good team and we've been able to get other guys experience throughout these last five games with KJ out. I think this experience will make us a better team down the road."

Izaiah Avent and Deron Seaman are two players that Landis thinks have benefited the most without Williams in the lineup, but having a total of three points combined between them on Saturday against Whitehall may not be the best example of their play.

"Izaiah comes off the bench and plays a big role for us inside," said Landis. "Deron has now had time to play guard in the backcourt and has gotten better for us. We still need more of our guys to step up and play better, because once the middle of January rolls around, you pretty much know what kind of team you are and we need to be better."

Landis expected Williams to come off the bench in Tuesday's contest against Parkland (6-1, 1-1), which was past Press deadlines and plans to have him start in Friday's showdown with Allen (4-3, 2-1).

"Things certainly don't get any easier for us this week," Landis said. "That's why it's important for us to get him back and have our full lineup playing together again."