The Butler men's basketball team stayed unbeaten at home with a third straight battle to the end, edging Labette 81-80 in overtime on Saturday evening at the Power Plant.
Butler is now 10-0 at home. All three home conference wins have been close calls, none closer than Saturday's game.
In the first half, Butler led 6-1 early on but a 7-0 Labette run would put the Cardinals up 14-13 later in the period. That's when Butler responded with a 9-0 run, triggered by a basket by Larry Fitzgerald and capped by a 3-pointer by Bakari Triggs, putting Butler up 22-14 with 8:54 left in the half.
After a 3-pointer by Trent Richardson with 1:53 left in the half, the Grizzlies had their biggest lead at 38-26 and would go into intermission leading 38-29.
In the second half, Butler would again lead by double digits when Sean Goodwin cashed in a layup with 17:12 to play that made it 44-34.
Labette would surge at that point, eventually getting as close as three points at the 13:36 mark following a technical whistled against the Butler bench.
Trent Richardson would answer with a 3-pointer and a basket on an offensive rebound, building the lead back to eight at 51-43 at the 12:58 mark. Still, Labette would keep chipping away at the Butler lead. With 4:20 left in the game, Demone Harrison hit a 3-pointer that put the Cardinals in the lead 63-62.
The two teams would trade the lead three times over two minutes, with Labette being up 70-68 with six seconds to go. Shomari Triggs got the ball after a made Cardinals free throw and went the length of the floor, being fouled on a shot attempt with .7 seconds to play. He made both free throws, sending the game into overtime.
In the extra period, Butler built a 79-74 lead with two minutes to play, but Labette scored five quick points to once again tie the game.
Shomari Triggs was sent to the line again with 34.3 seconds to play. He made both free throws, which would prove to be the winning points. Labette made just one of two free throws with 19.7 seconds left and neither team would score again.
Shomari Triggs led Butler with 24 points, aided by making all 10 free throws attempts. Trent Richardson scored 21 points for the Grizzlies, while Bakari Triggs had 13 and Sean Goodwin had 11.
Butler is now 17-5 overall and remains in first place in the Jayhawk East at 3-1. The Grizzlies will now take their two-game winning streak on the road on Wednesday when they play at Independence.
