Butler men pull away late in 81-67 home win over Neosho

The Butler men recovered from a slow offensive start and pulled away from Neosho County late for an 81-67 home victory Wednesday at the Power Plant.

Grehlon Easter led all scorers with 17 points, while Ndongo Ndaw came off the bench to finish with 14 points on 5-of-5 shooting, six rebounds and five blocks. Ndaw scored 12 of his 14 points, which helped Butler gain separation from the Panthers in the final 10 minutes of play.

Butler (16-5 overall, 9-3 conference) dug itself into a 10-point deficit midway through the opening half, as Neosho scored 20 points of 33 first-half points off turnovers and second-chance points. The Grizzlies made just 35.3 percent (12-of-34) from the field in the first half, but responded by hitting a 48.3 percent clip (14-of-29) in the second half.

"I didn't think we played all that bad. I thought our offense was a little stale," said Butler head coach Kyle Fisher. "We didn't get much movement early on. It was good to be able to hang in there, even though we weren't playing our best in the first half.

"Other than our own mistakes and us allowing them second-chance points in transition baskets, we were guarding them pretty good. We were fortunate to be only down two at halftime. We cleaned that up in the second half and that helped us separate late."

Butler found itself in a hole during a sluggish offensive first half, as Neosho built a 29-19 lead with 6:12 remaining before halftime. Beginning with a Juwan White 3-pointer, the Grizzlies used a 12-4 run to end the half and cut the deficit to 33-31. Butler had a chance to take the lead going into the locker room, but missed a 3-point attempt at the buzzer.

The Grizzlies had another slow offensive start to begin the second half, as Marque English's made 3-pointer from the top of the perimeter at the 17:45 mark for a 34-33 lead was Butler's only field goal for the opening 5:37.

Butler continued to lead by one, 47-46, before the Grizzlies put together a 15-2 run at the 10:37 mark. Seven quick points jumpstarted the run, beginning when Javaunte Hawkins drove the lane for a basket. Hawkins then followed with a steal and an assist on a Ndaw field goal in the lane and Shawn Hopkins added a 3-pointer from the left side just before the first-half media timeout.

English hit his second trey of the contest to push Butler's lead to 57-47, then Ndaw scored five straight points for the Grizzlies, who built a 62-48 lead with 7:09 to play. In addition to scoring 12 points in the half, Ndaw added four boards and four blocks in 13 minutes of action during the second half.

"What a great spark," Fisher said of Ndaw. "We've seen him play at that level in the preseason and early on in the season, so it was great to see him be productive like he has."

Neosho's Corbett Kimberlin kept the Panthers close with three 3-pointers in less than a two-minute span, which pulled the visitors within six, 65-59, with 5:09 remaining. The Panthers closed again within six at the 1:36 mark, but Butler outscored Neosho 14-4 – making 10-of-10 from the foul line and adding a Kamron Brice field goal to pull away.

Kimberlin and Jonathan Breeland Jr. each scored 12 points for Neosho, who shot 35.2 percent (25-of-71) from the field as a team. The Panthers (8-12, 4-7), who have lost six of their last eight games, were plagued by poor free-throw shooting and made just 7-of-19 from the foul line.

For Butler, English finished with 12 points on 4-of-7 shooting and added eight rebound and two blocks, while Brice scored 10 points with three rebounds and two blocks.

Following five games in 10 days, Butler will have a week off from conference action before returning with a Wednesday road game at Jayhawk East leader Cowley at 5:30 p.m. The Tigers (18-3, 10-1) have won five consecutive games and are ranked ninth in this week's NJCAA Division I poll.

"Five games in 10 days takes such a toll on you mentally, especially when you play three of four on the road," said Fisher. "Our schedule got out of whack with the makeup game (Monday at Garden City), so I'm really proud of the guys of how they hung in there, showed some toughness and were able to close out this stretch with a couple of wins."