Butler men pick up two victories at Hesston Classic

HESSTON, Kan. — Butler men's basketball rolled to a pair of easy victories this past weekend at the Hesston Classic, as the Grizzlies defeated Nation Wide Prep (OK) 95-66 on Friday and routed Louisiana Christian Prep 109-62 on Saturday.

With the pair of wins, Butler improved to 3-1 overall on the season. The Grizzlies will next host McPherson College JV on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. at the Power Plant.

Butler 95, Nation Wide Prep 66

The Grizzlies had a strong balanced attack in the win over Nation Wide, as four players scored in double figures. Payton Dickerson finished with 19 points and six rebounds, while Marque English had a double-double with 17 points and 10 boards.

Guards Kamron Brice and Grehlon Easter scored 15 and 14 points, respectively, in the win.

Butler never trailed in the contest, jumping out to a 10-2 lead to begin the game. The Grizzlies led by as many as 11 in the first half when a Dickerson 3-pointer put Butler up 34-23 with 4:51 before the break.

A 10-0 Prep run closed the margin to one with 1:02 before half, but a pair of Brice free throws and a English field goal gave the Grizzlies a 38-33 lead heading into the locker room.

English and Easter fueled Butler's second-half charge early with a 12-2 run to push the lead up to 15. English made two baskets to begin the half, then Easter hit two 3-pointers within a 16-second span for a 50-35 lead just 2:20 into the half.

Butler did not allow a field goal over a 6:22 span, holding Nation Wide to just four free throws as the Grizzlies went on a 15-4 run to increase the lead to 68-44 with 10:35 remaining. The lead eclipsed 30 towards the end of the contest.

Butler 109, Louisiana Christian Prep 62

Six players scored in double figures for the Grizzlies, with Shawn Hopkins leading the way with 19 points. Juwan White added 14 points, while Zach Butler added 12 points and six rebounds. Juvaunte Hawkins (13), Kamron Brice (11) and Jude Warren (10) also scored 10 or more for Butler.

Butler built a quick 21-2 lead just five minutes into Saturday's contest and scored the opening 10 points - including two Javaunte Hawkins 3-pointers. The Grizzlies' largest lead of the first half was 29 points, 56-27, with 3:13 before half.

Butler would take a 60-34 lead into the break and continued to pile on with a 18-0 run early in the second half to push the margin to 40 points at 82-42. White opened the run with a 3-pointer, then the Grizzlies added seven baskets in the paint - including two field goals each from English and Butler.

The Grizzlies hit the 100-point mark with 4:44 to play on a Trenton Driskill layup, which gave Butler its largest lead of the contest at 100-52.

Butler scored 60 of its 109 points in the lane and scored 38 points off of turnovers, with the aggressive play leading to a heavy advantage from the charity stripe as well. The Grizzlies made 73 percent from the line (22-of-30), while Louisiana Christian went to the line nine times and hit 44 percent (4-of-9).