For the third straight game the Dodge City men's basketball faced off against a ranked Jayhawk conference foe this time on the road taking on #17 Butler and would take Butler down to the final moments of the contest but fell 80-75.
The loss moves the Conquistadors to 5-8 on the season and 3-4 in KJCCC play as the Conqs now head into the holiday break.
The first three and half minutes saw Butler jump on the Conqs early as the Grizzlies worked to a 9-2 advantage, but the Conqs responded with a 7-0 run with a Gavin Shannon three-pointer, Jamari Gamble layup, and Hunter Duncan layup leading to a 9-9 contest at the first media timeout. The Conqs grabbed a brief lead at 11-10 but Butler grabbed it back and would quickly grow the lead to 10 with just over seven minutes remaining in the first half at 29-19. The lead would get as high as 14 for Butler at 36-22 with just under four minutes left in the first half, but the Conqs once again were resilient and answered with a 13-0 run to end the first half that was capped with a buzzer-beating layup by Duncan to make it a one-point game at 36-35 at halftime.
In the second half, the lead would linger around five points a majority of the half, but Butler would threaten to take a double-figure lead several times only to see the Conqs push back and draw within a single possession. Down 10 with two and half minutes the Conqs continued to push back and cut the Butler lead to four multiple times in the final minute but the Grizzlies would ultimately hit some free throws to secure the win 80-75.
The Conqs shot the ball well in the loss shooting 47.5% while Butler only shot 39.7% from the floor but the biggest difference was at the free throw line as the Conqs were 9-11 and Butler was 21-27. The Conqs also struggled with 19 turnovers.
Chevalier "Ice" Emery led the Conqs with 20 points on 7-12 shooting including 4-7 three-pointers. Shannon added 17 points on 6-14 shooting while grabbing six rebounds and dishing out four assists. Duncan had a solid game with nine points, 10 rebounds, and eight assists.
The Conqs will now take the holiday break to rest and prepare for the second half of the season as they will get the season rolling again on Wednesday, January 3rd at home against Northwest Kansas Tech at 7:30 pm.
