Grizzlies fall on the road; end regular season in third place in KJCCC East

The Butler men's basketball team (16-6, 14-6) wrapped up the regular season in an 81-68 road loss to No. 5-ranked Coffeyville Wednesday night at Nellis Hall.

Butler hit a three to start the game, but Coffeyville rattled off the next 19-points of the game and took an early 16-point lead. Butler tried to cut into the lead in the first half but couldn't gain much ground as they went into the locker room down by eighteen, 40-22.

Butler got a spark midway through the second half and closed the gap to 10 but could never get over the hump and break into single digits as Coffeyville came away with the 13-point, 81-68 victory.

Shawn Hopkins posted a double-double for Butler with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Karrington Davis and Noah Thomasson both scored 12 points in the loss and DeeJuan Pruitt finished with 11 points and four rebounds.

Coffeyville hit 51% of their shots and 40% from behind the arc. The Grizzlies struggled from the free throw line, especially on the front end of the one and one shots finishing 16-24 from the charity stripe for 67%.

NEXT UP: Butler will host a first round Region VI Tournament game on Monday, April 5. Winner will advance to the quarterfinal round to be held at the higher seed. Official bracket should be released later this week as there are a few games left to be played. The semi-final and championship rounds of the Region VI Tournament will be held Friday, April 9 and Saturday, April 10 hosted by Friends University.