Runnin' Bulldogs Fall Short, 68-66, At Butler Wednesday Night
November 24, 2011 | Men's Basketball
The Runnin' Bulldogs (2-4) made their first six shots and nine of their first 11 from the floor in a sizzling start, which put the two-time defending NCAA runner up on its heels in the early going. Gardner-Webb led 24-10 after an old fashioned three-point play by Kevin Hartley with 9:52 to play before intermission, and scored more points in the opening half against Butler (3-2) than any other team so far this season.
After a Mike Byron layup with 19:24 to play in the game put Gardner-Webb in front 52-35, Butler started to climb back in the game, going on a lengthy, 16-0 run that took nearly eight minutes. Andrew Smith capped that spurt with a layup to cut Gardner-Webb's lead to 52-51 with 11:12 left - but Gardner-Webb got a jumper from Byron and a layup by Corey Hensley to push back in front by five, 56-51 with 10:41 to play.
Butler finally pulled even on a free throw by Smith with 6:42 left, and took its first lead of the night on a runner by Chrishawn Hopkins - making the score 60-58 with 5:51 left. Gardner-Webb tied the game moments later on a Tashan Newsome jumper, but Chase Stigall drained a three-pointer with 4:20 left to give Butler the lead for good.
Byron hit a pair of free throws with 1:36 left to cut the Bulldogs' lead to two points and - after a pair of Smith free throws - made a layup with 15.4 seconds left to cut the lead to 67-65. Butler's Jackson Aldridge made one of two free throws with 14.2 seconds left to put the hosts up by three, but Gardner-Webb could not get open for a three-point opportunity on the ensuing possession. Newsome was fouled with 1.3 seconds left, and made the first free throw, but saw Butler get the rebound on an intentional miss.
Ronald Nored ran down an inbounds pass in the front court and time expired to end Gardner-Webb chances.
Byron scored a career-high 16 points in the loss - netting eight in each half - in just 23 minutes due to foul trouble. All four main post players had four fouls for Gardner-Webb with nearly 10 minutes left, and Hartley fouled out at the 9:04 mark.
Max Landis continued his hot shooting, hitting all five shots he took - including four from long distance - to finish with all 14 of his points in the first half. The Indianapolis, Ind., native is averaging 15.5 points in his last four games. Jason Dawson scored all 12 of his points in the first half, as the two guards were limited to just four combined field goal opportunities in the final 20 minutes.
Stefon Johnson scored Gardner-Webb's first four points in the game, and finished with nine points and six rebounds before fouling out. GWU shot just 27.3 percent (6-of-22) and missed all six of its three-point shots in the second half - finishing the game at 54.2 percent overall and 50.0 percent (8-of-16) from deep. The 'Dogs struggled at the free throw line in the second half and made just 6-of-14 in the game (42.9 percent).
Gardner-Webb owned a 30-28 edge on the glass, but saw Butler score 11 second chance points on 12 offensive rebounds. Hopkins scored 11 points in each half to pace Butler with 22 points, Stigall scored 14 and Smith scored all 11 of his points in the second half.
Butler has won 18 of its last 20 games in Hinkle Fieldhouse against non-conference opponents.
Gardner-Webb has little time to rest, as it will do battle with Savannah State on Saturday afternoon at 5:00 pm in Chattanooga, Tenn. The Runnin' Bulldogs will then take on Chattanooga Sunday afternoon at 3:00 pm.
| Box Score (PDF) |
