One of the biggest cheers during Liberty's Monday night basketball contest against Emmaus was that Bethlehem students were going to have a two-hour delay the following day because of the cold weather.

That was possibly the major highlight for the Liberty faithful, as the Hurricanes (7-8, 3-7) dropped an 80-70 final at home to the Green Hornets (13-4, 7-3).

Deshawn Oyeniyi scored a career-high 26 points for the Hurricanes, but Emmaus' balance helped them hold off their counterparts, as four Hornets scored in double figures to stay in front over the final three quarters.

After trailing 19-19 at the end of the first quarter, Emmaus opened the game up in the second quarter, outscoring Liberty 20-7 to take a 38-26 lead into halftime.

"We played all right early and played all right late, but there was a stretch in the second quarter where we had some guys play out of character and force things," said Liberty head coach Chad Landis. "We just can't get it all together right now."

Liberty played without the services of senior forward KJ Williams, who missed Monday's contest due to illness. The Hurricanes could have used a second scoring option, as Oyeniyi led their scoring attack throughout the night.

But it was defensive lapses in the third quarter that allowed Emmaus to pull ahead 60-43 heading into the final frame.

Liberty's pressure defense helped them score some easy buckets, but it also allowed the Hornets to get some layups on the opposing end to build a huge lead entering the final frame.

That didn't mean the Hurricanes packed it in, as they rallied in the fourth quarter to make things interesting.

They brought the score within 64-56 with 4:21 on the clock following a drive to the basket by Ludwin Gonzalez that ended with an and one conversion. Oyeniyi kept the push going, scoring at the rim and converting the subsequent free throw to make it 66-61 with 2:42 on the clock.

That was the closest it would get for Liberty, as Joey Nicolini (15 points) countered with a three-pointer at the other end to put the lead back at eight, 69-61.

From there, the Hornets controlled the game at the line, as they nailed 27-of-32 free throws on the night to close out the contest.

Matt Kachelries and David Kachelries each scored 12 and 15 points respectively, while Nate Feiertag led the team with 23 points.

"We needed to press in the third quarter to get the game back in the pace we needed it to be," Landis said, "but Emmaus did a good of handling it and they made more plays than us."

Liberty now faces each contest as a playoff game, as the Hurricanes still remain in the district hunt, but will need to get their act together if they truly want to make a run.

"We'll continue to search for guys that can help us get some wins," Landis said. "When you're playing like us, the playoffs just start earlier because every game turns into one you need. Hopefully, we just get enough wins to get in."