Late Lead Slips Away for Butler in Region 6 Semifinal Loss to Cowley

HAYS, Kan. – For the folks wearing purple in Fort Hays State's Gross Memorial Coliseum on Friday afternoon, it felt as if the ride was going to continue into Saturday.

The fifth seeded Butler Grizzlies (22-11) led the top seeded and regular season KJCCC champion Cowley Tigers 54-51, having possession with a minute to play in regulation. A wild and wacky minute later and the Grizzlies sat stunned, having lost 58-54 and seeing the 2024-25 season come to a close.

A Grizzly turnover in the backcourt saw Cowley's (28-4) Marcus Zeigler put in a quick layup to trim the Butler lead to 54-53 with 46 seconds to play. Butler got the ball back and again turned the ball over, this time at the top of the key as Cowley's Marcus Whitlock picked the pocket of freshman guard Josiah Kirkwood and took the ball downcourt before being fouled and making 1-2 free throws to tie the game at 54-all with 30 seconds to go.

Butler's Emeka Opurum snagged the rebound on the free throw miss by Whitlock and the Grizzlies called timeout with 29 seconds to play. Once again, a turnover plagued Butler as they struggled to move the ball up the court and a collision in front of the scorer's table saw Cowley's Emarquis Jones come away with the ball before streaking down the court for the go-ahead layup giving the Tigers a 56-54 lead. Butler called one last timeout with seven seconds to play, having time for one more shot to tie or go ahead. Kirkwood got a look at a top of the key three, but it came up short as a Tiger went up and snatched it for the rebound. Officials reviewed whether there was goaltending but the call on the court stood. A last second foul saw Zeigler connect on two free throws to secure the Tiger win.

The defensive game plan worked perfectly for the Grizzlies. They held Cowley to a season-low 58 points and their second lowest shooting mark of the year (36.4%). The halfcourt defense had Cowley puzzled in the second half as the Tigers shot just 8-25 (32%) and 1-10 from three but the late turnovers did the Grizzlies in as Cowley's athleticism in the full court press proved troublesome.

Butler outrebounded Cowley 50-34 but turned the ball over 20 times compared to the Tiger's 11. The Grizzlies struggled at the free throw line as they did all season, shooting just 9-18. Butler shot 20-58 (34.5%) from the field and 5-23 from three. In his final game as a Grizzly, Russell Branch led Butler with 14 points to go with four rebounds. Opurum pulled down 15 rebounds but tallied just four points on 2-3 shooting. Devonte Reed added a spark scoring nine of Butler's 30 bench points to go with four rebounds. Devin Kerr had eight points and five rebounds and Kirkwood finished with eight points, four rebounds and four turnovers.

Cowley was led by Zeigler's 20 points on 6-15 shooting. Shamarrie Hugie totaled 16 points and eight rebounds.

Butler struggled in the first half shooting 29.4% from the field and 2-11 from three. They trailed the entire half. Cowley built their largest lead of the game, nine, with 1:13 left in the half as Dallas Whitney connected on a three to make it 33-24. Branch got a layup to go with under a minute to play and the Grizzlies trailed 33-26 entering the locker room.

Butler's largest lead of the game was three, and the first time they led in the game was following a Branch triple with 10:58 to go in the second half that made it 44-43 Grizzlies. Zeigler hit a three to put the Tigers back ahead a few minutes later at 46-45 but five consecutive points from Kirkwood mad it 51-48 Butler and forced a Cowley timeout with 5:55 to play. From that point on, Butler did not trail until Jones' layup with 16 seconds remaining.

Butler finished the season 1-2 vs. the Tigers having beaten them 72-69 in El Dorado nine days prior to close the regular season.

Eric Nitsche's inaugural year as head coach of the Grizzlies saw them finish 22-11 and 15-9 in conference play with playoff wins over Pratt at home and Hutchinson on the road before narrowly losing to the nationally fifth ranked Tigers.

Opurum was named to the NJCAA Region 6 All-Tournament Team for his impressive defensive play.