ARKANSAS CITY, Kan. – Butler men's basketball snagged two wins at the Cowley Classic on Friday and Saturday, staying unbeaten moving to 5-0 on the season.
The Grizzlies nabbed their second win over a ranked opponent on Friday, defeating No. 14 ranked NEO A&M 85-82. They closed the Classic at W.S. Scott Gym on Saturday with a 91-84 win over Allen County.
Next up for Butler is the home opener at the Power Plant on Nov. 20th at 7:30 p.m. vs NOC-Tonkawa, a team that Butler previously beat 93-84 in Tonkawa on Nov. 5th.
Butler 85, NEO 82
The Grizzlies scored 54 second half points on the way to a four-point win over the 14th ranked Norsemen.
Butler faced a 10-point deficit midway through the first half but battled back to make it a three-point game at 30-27 with 2:17 left in the half off a three from sophomore guard Kaeson Fisher-Brown. NEO took a 35-31 advantage to halftime. NEO outshot Butler 46.4% to 26.2% from the field in the first half.
A 54-47 second half saw the Grizzlies grab the win. Bubba Leavell hit his sixth three of the game at the 16:17 mark of the second half to put Butler ahead 45-43. It was their first lead since the 16:00 mark of the first half. Leavell led Butler with 20 points shooting 6-10 from deep. The Grizzlies built their largest lead of the game at 72-66 with 5:26 to play.
NEO cut it to a one-point game with a three with seven seconds remaining but Russell Branch knocked down a pair of free throws to close the game out.
Joining Leavell in double figures was Branch and Fisher-Brown with 13 points each. Fisher-Brown dished out six assists as well. Devin Kerr added 11 points and four rebounds off the bench. Devonte Reed led Butler with seven rebounds.
The loss for NEO was their first of the season. Buddy Hammer finished with 24 points 10 rebounds and four blocks to lead the Norsemen.
Butler 91, Allen County 84
Butler closed the Cowley Classic out with a seven-point win over Allen County.
Five Grizzlies scored in double figures led by Bubba Leavell's 15 points on 5-9 shooting from three. Forward AJ Pierre-Jerome tallied 14 points and five rebounds while guard Russell Branch pulled down 11 rebounds. Forward Emeka Opurum added 14 points off the bench.
Butler led 48-34 at halftime but Allen scored 50 second half points to make it a game.
Both teams hit 11 three's with Allen shooting 50% (11-22) compared to Butler's 37.9% (11-29). The Grizzlies outrebounded Allen 36-27 and scored 25 points off 19 Allen turnovers.
