CHANUTE, KS – Neosho's Brian Tolefree scores a game high 21 points to lead the Panthers past Butler Community College 70-62 at the Panther gymnasium Wednesday night.
 
Tolefree made 7 of 17 shots, including 3 of 11 from deep, and sank 4 of 4 free throws.
 
"Brian is a tough player and one that's hard to guard," Panther Head Coach Jeremy Coombs said. "He's a guy that can stroke it from three but also get to the basket and tonight he helped get us going."
 
In the first half the Panthers came out playing tremendous defense holding the Grizzlies to just six points in the first ten minutes of the first half. But the Grizzlies would end the half on a 12-0 run and would take a 27-25 lead into the locker room at half.
 
"This was a defensive battle from start to finish and ultimately come down to who would execute down the stretch." Coombs said. "I was disappointed in our execution in the first half but butler plays great defense and that had a lot to do with it."
 
In the second half the Grizzlies would come out swinging and pushed their lead to six off a couple of Neosho turnovers. But the Panthers didn't go away and ten minutes into the half the Neosho would make a 11-2 run to take a 44-37 lead over the Grizzlies and never looked back.
 
With 5:32 left to play in the game Neosho would lead 61-49 and a Tolefree three would give the Panthers their largest lead of the night.
 
"We have been in that situation several times this year and let teams back in the game, so we called a timeout to make sure the guys finished the game strong." Coombs said. "We knew we just needed a few more stops and would need to knock down our free throws."
 
And knock down free throws they did as the Panthers shot 10-15 - 66% in the second half from the charity stripe. The Panthers finished off the Grizzlies by knocking down six of their last eight free throws to secure the 70-62 victory over the Butler Grizzlies. The Panthers moved to 12-9 on the season and 5-6 in conference play.
 
Next up this Saturday the Panthers will travel south to take on the NJCAA #5 Coffeyville Red Raven's at 7 p.m. and then will return home Wednesday the 30^th to take on the Thunderbirds of Cloud County for a 7:30pm tip.
 
For more information on the Panther men's basketball team, visit GoNeosho.com or follow @GoNeoshoHoops on Twitter.