The Butler men kept their hopes alive for a first-round home playoff game with a thrilling 66-63 win over Coffeyville at the Power Plant on Saturday.

Will Adler and Caelan Neal scored 18 points each for the Grizzlies (15-12 overall, 7-9 conference), while Derrick Byrd added 12 points, seven assists and five rebounds. Neal finished with a double-double, tying Daven Joseph with a team-high 11 rebounds.

Butler dominated the first 14 minutes of the contest, building a 14-point lead over the Ravens. Adler hit two three-pointers as the Grizzlies opened the game with an 8-0 lead, then added another trey at the 6:29 mark to give Butler a 30-16 advantage.
However, Coffeyville climbed back into the game and pulled within four points, 35-31, by the halftime break.

The Ravens kept pace with Butler in the second half, eventually taking a 54-48 lead with 9:03 left on a pair of Delano Spencer layups.

Adler then started a 9-0 Grizzly run with a three-pointer from the left corner. Caelan Neal followed with a jump shot in the lane, then Derrick Byrd added back-to-back field goals to put Butler back up 57-54.

Coffeyville managed to grab the lead twice, the final time at 63-61 with 2:35 to play on a Tedrick Wolfe layup.

Despite not making a field goal in the final 4:54 of the contest, Butler hit 9-of-10 free throws – including Semaj Harvey's two foul shots to put the Grizzlies up 64-63 with 1:37 to go. The Ravens followed with a missed three-point attempt, then Harvey hit two more foul shots with 15.4 remaining.

Coffeyville's final possession saw Darrion Strong miss two three-point attempts to end the game.

Next up for Butler is a road contest Wednesday at Allen County. Tipoff from Iola is at 8:00 p.m.