Winning streak up to 6 for Butler men
Ethan Denton--Student Sports Media
Issue date: 2/9/10 Section: Sports
It was the beginning of the second half of Jayhawk West play for the Grizzly men's basketball team and they had to remove a thorn from their side in Dodge City. The Conquistadors handed Butler a six point defeat in Dodge back in the first semester and the Grizzlies were looking to get back at the Conqs. But in the midst of playing their third game in five days, fatigue may have played a factor in this game as Butler could not gain much of an advantage during any point in the game, but managed to get the stops when they counted, and left the Power Plant with their sixth win in a row, 60-55.
"I attribute most of it to our approach to the game," Assistant Coach Jon Craig said. "I don't think our guys were mentally prepared to play the game."
A four point burst by the Grizzlies to start the game was quickly answered by Dodge setting up much of what was to come. The biggest lead in the entire game was a mere five points, and that occurred seven minutes in when Caleb Walker, Hutchinson sophomore, made a three-pointer while being fouled and also converted the free throw to complete the rare four-point play to give Butler a 13-8 lead. But the Conqs came back to grab the lead on a couple of occasions before Walker threw down and alley-oop pass from Anthony Cousin, Anchorage, AK freshman at the half-time buzzer to give the Grizzlies a 34-32 lead.
The second half featured much of the same, with a bit more poor shooting to frustrate each team. Once again, neither team was allowed to breathe and relax with their leads. With a minute to go, Butler was ahead 58-55 but the Conqs had the ball. And they missed. Then they grabbed the offensive board. Then they missed again. And yet again they got the ball back, until finally another miss was finally snagged down by Walker, who capped off a 19 point night by sinking two free throws to seal the victory.
"We made some stops in the last three to four minutes that weren't indicative of the way we took an approach on the defensive end of the floor for the first 36 minutes of the game," Craig said.
Although the Grizzlies had one of their worst shooting nights all season long at 37%, they once again crashed the boards, out-rebounding Dodge 45-28. Walker finished with a double-double as he pulled down 13 boards. Cousin and Josh Gibbs, Raytown, MO freshman, each tallied 11 points for Butler, who improved to 19-4 overall, and 7-2 in the Jayhawk West, good for sole possession of second place, one game behind Hutchinson. The Grizzlies also earned a spot in the rankings for the first time this season, as their six game winning streak spurred them to the #21 spot in the polls.
"I attribute most of it to our approach to the game," Assistant Coach Jon Craig said. "I don't think our guys were mentally prepared to play the game."
A four point burst by the Grizzlies to start the game was quickly answered by Dodge setting up much of what was to come. The biggest lead in the entire game was a mere five points, and that occurred seven minutes in when Caleb Walker, Hutchinson sophomore, made a three-pointer while being fouled and also converted the free throw to complete the rare four-point play to give Butler a 13-8 lead. But the Conqs came back to grab the lead on a couple of occasions before Walker threw down and alley-oop pass from Anthony Cousin, Anchorage, AK freshman at the half-time buzzer to give the Grizzlies a 34-32 lead.
The second half featured much of the same, with a bit more poor shooting to frustrate each team. Once again, neither team was allowed to breathe and relax with their leads. With a minute to go, Butler was ahead 58-55 but the Conqs had the ball. And they missed. Then they grabbed the offensive board. Then they missed again. And yet again they got the ball back, until finally another miss was finally snagged down by Walker, who capped off a 19 point night by sinking two free throws to seal the victory.
"We made some stops in the last three to four minutes that weren't indicative of the way we took an approach on the defensive end of the floor for the first 36 minutes of the game," Craig said.
Although the Grizzlies had one of their worst shooting nights all season long at 37%, they once again crashed the boards, out-rebounding Dodge 45-28. Walker finished with a double-double as he pulled down 13 boards. Cousin and Josh Gibbs, Raytown, MO freshman, each tallied 11 points for Butler, who improved to 19-4 overall, and 7-2 in the Jayhawk West, good for sole possession of second place, one game behind Hutchinson. The Grizzlies also earned a spot in the rankings for the first time this season, as their six game winning streak spurred them to the #21 spot in the polls.
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