Balanced Attack Leads No. 11 Grizzlies to 19 Point Home Win

EL DORADO, Kan. – A 52-point first half helped spring the Butler Community College men's basketball team to an 89-70 win over the Cloud County Thunderbirds at the Power Plant on Wednesday evening.

Butler (14-3, 9-2 KJCCC) earned a second consecutive win and snapped a two-game home losing streak. Cloud County (9-8, 3-8) lost its seventh straight game.

The Grizzlies shot 15-30 from three-point range and got 41 points from their bench. Sophomore guard Bubba Leavell led all scorers with 20 points connecting on 6-10 shots from beyond the arc. It marked Leavell's sixth game of the season making five or more threes. Fellow sophomore guard Kaeson-Fisher Brown was 4-8 from distance finishing with 16 points off the bench while freshman forward Emeka Opurum tallied nine points, a season-high 14 rebounds and five blocks. Sophomore guard Russell Branch led the Grizzlies with six assists to go with five rebounds.

Cloud County shot 48.4% from the field in the first half putting up 43 points but the Grizzly defense held them to 20.5% (8-39) shooting in the second half allowing just 27 points. Butler's biggest lead came with 2:50 to play in the second half as they opened a 21-point advantage capping off an 11-0 scoring run.

The T-Birds jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the first half and later pushed it to 8-5 before the Grizzlies started to take control. Following a made three from Syncere Burnett to cut the Grizzly lead to 13-11 four minutes into the game, the Grizzlies scored eight unanswered points taking a 22-11 lead thanks to made threes from Fisher-Brown and freshman guard/forward Rashad McCormick. Butler pushed its lead to 15 with 7:31 to play in the first half off a Leavell three but the T-Birds kept coming and whittled the lead to five off a Kuel Akot jumper three minutes later. Butler headed to the half ahead by nine at 52-43.

Butler led for 36 minutes and 16 seconds in the game and did not trail in the second half.

Cloud County was led by Burnette's 15 points and eight rebounds. Elidjah Savane added 14 points and 14 rebounds for the game's lone double-double.                

The Grizzlies return to action on Saturday when they travel to Arkansas City to take on the No. 9 ranked Cowley Tigers at 3 p.m.