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No home wins since 2004. No league wins since 2005. The sports odds seemed to be stacked against the Butler Bulldogs in their boys' basketball matchup against the Lancers of Lakeland, but youth was served as a roster made up mostly of juniors heroically won in the final seconds by a score of 55-53.
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After an evenly played first quarter, the Lancers came out in a full court press which led to multiple turnovers and easy lay ins. Lakeland guard Jake McDonald was a defensive force all over the court, leading the way with nearly double-digit steals and 22 points. The relentless pressure seemed like too much for the young Butler side to handle. Slowly but surely, though, the Bulldogs chipped away and managed to find holes up to midcourt.
Led by junior guard Charles Grippenburg, Butler knocked down multiple three pointers to stay within reach throughout the entire second half. The Lancers had their own answer to the Bulldogs' deep shooting, and it came in the form of sixth man Alec Wasilewski. He was a sparkplug off the bench, making three game tying shots to lead his basketball team in scoring during the evenly-matched second half.
For every steal and lay-up that Lakeland produced, the persistent Bulldogs had a retaliation of their own. Butler forward Jeff Adubato was a force on the boards and scored 11 points. Also chipping in off the bench was guard Brendan Kelly who led the team in assists with precision passing.
With a minute remaining and the score tied at 53, Lakeland held the ball near midcourt as it looked to set up the final shot for the win. An errant pass led to a turnover and Butler sped down the court, but its shot attempt went awry. Lakeland rebounded with less than 15 seconds to play, but as the Lancers attempted to quickly move upcourt, Butler junior Ryan Lowery came out of nowhere and stole the ball. His pass deflected right into the arms of Grippenburg, who scored the most important of his 20 points on a tough layup in traffic.
"I saw that he was going to pass (to midcourt) and I just jumped in front of it," said Lowery. "Charles did a great job."
Lakeland rushed downcourt and got a decent look at the basket before the buzzer, but it bounced off the back of the rim, sending the Bulldogs into a frenzy.
Butler coach Jon Simoneau was extremely pleased that his team didn't panic at the end. "We were having fun out there," he said.
Besides breaking their long home and league losing streaks, the Bulldogs won their second game in three tries, after beating Parsippany in a holiday tournament matchup. The two wins is also already the most Butler has had in any basketball season since 2004-05.
Simoneau hopes these victories helps start to erase the stigma of the program's recent struggles. "That was the old Butler basketball," he laughed. "This is new Butler basketball. We're fun and exciting now." -- Anthony Mulvihill for Jersey Sports Now
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