Butler Leads Start To Finish at Garden City

GARDEN CITY, Kan. – Fifth ranked Butler men's basketball led start to finish in a 90-83 road win over Garden City at Conestoga Arena on Saturday afternoon.

Butler (13-3, 8-2 KJCCC) snapped a two-game losing streak to pick up their first win of the 2025 calendar year. Garden City (8-8, 3-7) lost its second straight game.

Sophomore guard Russell Branch poured in a career-high 24 points to go with five rebounds and four assists to lead Butler. Butler shot 52.4% from the field and held Garden City to just 37.3% shooting. The Grizzlies got 48 of their points in the paint and also had 41 points scored off the bench led by redshirt freshman forward AJ Pierre-Jerome's season-high 18 points. He also added five rebounds.

Butler's largest lead came in the first half when they took a 23-point lead at the 6:03 mark. They took a 49-30 lead into halftime. Garden City trimmed the Butler lead to four with 5:22 to play but Butler sophomore guard Kaeson Fisher-Brown hit a three a few possessions later that helped the Grizzlies gain some momentum back.

Freshman guard Josiah Kirkwood added 11 points, three rebounds and two assists off the bench. Fellow freshman Emeka Opurum tallied nine points, five rebounds and three blocks.

Conference leading scorer Antonio Chol finished with 21 points to lead Garden City. Emmanuel Manyon added 19 points of his own to go with six assists.

Butler returns to action on Wednesday, Jan. 15th, as they host Cloud County at 7:30 p.m.