Sean Boston
Student Sports Media
Butler sophomore Jacolby Harris and the Grizzlies men’s basketball team rebounded after a tough loss on the road at Colby with a key victory on the road in Great Bend on Wednesday, Jan. 25. The Grizzlies used a strong outing in the first half en route to an 87-84 win in the Barton Gymnasium.
Harris matched his career-high with 30 points in the victory, including an impressive 11 of 13 shooting from the field and going 7 of 8 from the free-throw line. Harris’ hot shooting was key for the team as the Grizzlies shot a red-hot 58 percent from the field.
The Grizzlies got off to a quick start and raced out to a comforting lead, including an 11-0 run highlighted by seven points during that stretch from Harris. Butler got out to a comforting lead, but the Barton Cougars wouldn’t fall behind any more at home. The Cougars ended the first-half on a run and would go into the halftime trailing by two, 42-40.
Barton jumped out to a 7-0 run to begin the second half and grabbed the five-point lead and forced a Butler timeout. The Grizzlies regrouped after the timeout and responded with an 11-2 run of their own and regained the lead.
The game would go back and forth down the wire including multiple lead changes. Barton took a 61-58 lead with nearly eight minutes to go, but Butler would have an answer. Harris got hot again and scored nine straight points for the Grizzlies as they grabbed the four-point lead with 4:02 remaining.
The Grizzlies attacked the rim from then on out, trying to claw out a win and they would do so, as they knocked down 11 of 16 free throws down the stretch. Barton pulled within two, 84-82 with 19 seconds to go. The Grizzlies knocked down 3 of 6 from the free-throw line in the final 19 seconds en route to the win.
Butler was out-rebounded by 17 in the game, 40-23, but the Grizzlies limited their turnovers and were able to connect from the free-throw line when they needed to. The Grizzlies scored 29 points off of 15 Cougar turnovers in the win.
The victory for the Grizzlies was their sixth in their last seven games as they continue to climb the Jayhawk Conference standings.
