In what looked and played like a postseason game, the Butler Dodge City matchup Saturday afternoon in Dodge City did not disappoint as both teams traded blows for 40-minutes with the Conquistadors coming out on top 86-83.
It was a back and forth first half that ended with a Shae Mitchell three pointer to send the game into the break knotted up at 35-apiece.
The second half look much like the first with really good basketball being played by both teams.
In a game that featured 15 ties and 14 lead changes, it was bound to be an exciting finish. No team led by more than five points throughout the entire game. Butler trailed by five, 86-81, with seven seconds to play and made their best effort to come back and win in the final seconds.
A foul sent Treylon Payne to the line who sank both free throws. An inbounds pass that bounced off the knee of Walyn Napper gave Butler a fighting chance, trailing by three with four-seconds left on the clock. A nicely drawn up and execute play got the ball out on the perimeter to Treylon Payne who fired up a shot that bounced off the back of the rim and out as the buzzer sounded.
In his first game of the season, Shawn Hopkins, who is coming off an ankle injury, posted a team high 22 points, eight rebounds and four assists. Treylon Payne his best game of the season also scoring 22 points in the contest. Noah Thomasson finished with 13 points and four assists.
The Grizzlies were 30-74 shooting for 41% while shooting 35% from behind the arc. Butler got 12 offensive rebounds of their own but gave up 18 offensive rebounds to the Conqs which game them some easy buckets throughout the course of the game.
Dodge City's sophomore guard Walyn Napper, All-American transfer, posted a game high 27 points off 11-21 shooting.
"This was a great college basketball game," commented head coach Kyle Fisher after the game. "It is good to be out here playing high level basketball and even more so against a great team. I am really proud with the way we continued to fight. We tried and kept fighting, especially late when things didn't look great. We executed well and got a good look to tie the game it just didn't fall."
Due to the postponement of the conference opener, this was the Grizzlies first KJCCC action this season.
"I have said it before and today just showed it even more, this is the best conference in the country with some of the best basketball in the country," said Fisher. "You have to show up every day in order to compete at this level. This was our guys first taste of it, now we have to get back to work and get ready for the next one."
The Grizzlies will play host to No. 14 ranked Hutchinson (2-1, 1-1) on Wednesday, February 3rd at 7:30pm in the Power Plant in El Dorado, KS. Butler upset the then ranked No. 2 Blue Dragons last year in a thrilling 73-63 win in front of a loud and energized crowd at the Power Plant. They hope to have a repeat of last season's game but will have to do so without any crowd due to current KJCCC Protocols.
Notes: The Grizzlies have struggled over the years in Dodge City winning just six of the last 19 matchups out west and are 17-19 against the Conqs since the 2001 season.
