ARKANSAS CITY, Kan. – The Butler men started slow, but finished strong for an 84-71 road win at Cowley County.

Cowley led 8-0 early on and had its biggest lead at 20-9 midway through the first half. Butler finally started to gain momentum by pushing the ball up the floor with some key 3-pointers.

Caelan Neal scored seven points in a short stretch in which Butler took the lead. It was his layup that put Butler ahead 30-29 with 3:50 left in the half.

The Grizzlies went on a 30-11 run and led 41-35 at the half. The surge continued in the second half. Butler quickly pushed the lead to double digits, going up 50-38 after a 3-pointer by Semaj Hervey with 15:40 left.

The lead grew to as many as 21 points after a Derrick Byrd layup made the score 78-57 with 4:30 remaining.

Butler had five players in double figures, led by Daven Joseph, who had 19 points and 11 rebounds. Caelan Neal had 16 points, Derrick Byrd had 15, Will Adler had 13 and Semaj Hervey had 11.

For the game, the Grizzlies made 34 of 60 shots for 56.7 percent, which is the second-highest of the season (59 percent vs On Point Academy).

The Grizzlies have their second win in the past three games and improve to 13-11 overall and 5-8 in Jayhawk Conference play. Butler stays on the road for its next game, with a 6 p.m. tipoff at Independence on Saturday.