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Butler Community College Athletics

Grizzlies see double-digit lead erased in close loss to Cloud

Grizzlies see double-digit lead erased in close loss to Cloud
Box Score
February 25, 2012

EL DORADO, Kan. – With a double-digit lead and the Cloud County's out of the game with an injury, the Butler men's basketball team looked to be in good shape to hold on for a conference win on Saturday against the Thunderbirds at the Power Plant.

Instead, Cloud County rallied around their fallen leader and went on a 19-2 run to turn a big deficit into a comfortable lead, beating the Grizzlies 75-70.

Early on in the first half, each team had a series of brief leads. Butler would eventually go ahead by five points at halftime, helped in part when Justin Simmons was fouled on a half-court shot at the end of the first half. He made two of the three free throws and Butler led 39-34 at the break. 

Butler continued to surge in the second half. The Grizzlies built their lead to as many as 11 points after Jal'n Williams scored a layup with 12:47 to play. Moments later, Cloud looked to be in trouble when leading scorer Devon Branch was injured and left the game.

Instead, the Thunderbirds mounted an 11-0 run to tie the game 54-54 with 9:25 to play, then took control behind the sharpshooting of Kyle Haverkamp, who made four consecutive 3-point baskets as Cloud would eventually go ahead 69-60.

Butler wasn't out of it yet, mounting an 8-0 run of its own, keyed by a 3-pointer by Jal'n Williams that made it a 69-68 game with just over a minute to play. That was as close as Butler would get, however. Two late technical foul calls on Butler coach Mike Bargen stymied Butler's comeback after a controversial intentional foul call.

Andrew Victoria led Butler with 16 points while Justin Simmons added 12. Lane Lindhorst and Jal'n Williams scored eight points each. Kyle Haverkamp and Richard Carter scored 15 points apiece for Cloud County.

Butler is now 9-19 overall, 3-11 in Jayhawk West Conference play with a road trip to league-leading and nationally-ranked Seward County coming on Wednesday.