The Panthers led for most of the game but missed several free throws that ultimately allowed Butler to pull away from Neosho County late in the game for an 81-67 road loss Wednesday in El Dorado, KS.
Jonathan Breeland Jr and
Corbett Kimberlin would lead the Panthers in scoring with 12 points apiece. Jae-min Yang and
Daniel Titus would chip in 9 points each while
James Taylor and
Jadis White would add 7 points each.
Early in the game, the Panthers would take a 10 point lead as the Panthers would use their tough defense to score off Grizzly turnovers. Neosho built a 29 to 19 lead with 6 minutes before halftime. But it was the grizzlies that put together a 12-4 run before the half to close the gap. The Panthers shot 5 for 15 from deep but only connected on 4 for 9 from the free-throw line but still took a 33 to 31 lead into the locker room.
In the second half both teams came out slow as it looked like the second half would be a defensive battle. The Panthers and Grizzlies wouldn't score until 4 minutes into the second half and would continue a seesaw battle back and forth exchanging bucket after bucket. But it was a Grizzlies 15-2 run just before the media timeout. That gave Butler their biggest lead of the night at 57-47.
Corbett Kimberlin would knock down a couple threes the pull the Panthers back into striking distance with just 5 minutes to play the Grizzly lead was cut to 4 points. Butler would go on to knock down free throws knocking down 10 of 10 in the last minute and a half of the ball game pulling away from the Panthers and securing an 81 to 63 victory.
"This was very similar to the last game, but we were on the other side of it." Coombs said, "If we make free throws like we did vs Colby it's a totally different ballgame. You can't win games when you shoot 36% from the free-throw line."
The Panthers will return home Saturday to take on the Coffeyville Red Ravens. Tip is set for 7:30 pm here at the Panther Gymnasium.
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