CONCORDIA, Kan. – The Butler men started well at Cloud County on Wednesday at Arley A. Bryant Gymnasium, but couldn't keep the momentum in a 75-60 loss in front of a capacity crowd.

The Grizzlies led 4-0 in the early going and had a traded leads with the Thunderbirds for the first 10 minutes of the game. But the final 10 minutes of the first half proved costly for Butler as the Grizzlies scored just four points and found themselves down 13 at the break, 35-22.

Cloud continued to pull away from Butler in the second half as the Grizzlies struggled offensively. The Thunderbirds eventually led by as many as 25 points on their way to the home victory before Butler went on a 19-8 run to get as close as 14 points late.

Butler was led by Justin Simmons, who scored a game-high 22 points, while Zac Bargen scored 12 points. Andrew Victoria was Butler's leading rebounder with 10. Richard Carter led Cloud County with 17 points.

Butler is now 7-13 on the season, 1-5 in Jayhawk West play. The Grizzlies return home to face No. 9-ranked Seward County at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday at the Power Plant.