INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (GreenBayPhoenix.com) - Despite leading for most of the night and holding Butler (7-7, 1-1 HL) to just 31 percent from the field, Green Bay (7-7, 2-1 HL) could not overcome a tough shooting night and some late Bulldog threes in dropping its first Horizon League game Thursday at Hinkle Fieldhouse.

Green Bay led by as many as 10 points (21-11) in the opening half and took a 25-21 lead into the halftime break. The Phoenix held Butler to just 8-of-32 shooting from the field in the opening 20 minutes, including 0-of-10 from long range.

The Phoenix was not much better, hitting just 8-of-31 from the field, but Green Bay benefitted knocking down seven free throws. Sophomore Alec Brown (Winona, Minn.) and junior Brennan Cougill (Sioux City, Iowa) each had seven rebounds in the frame with Cougill adding seven boards.

Green Bay held the lead until Andrew Smeathers hit a three to put Butler up 38-37 with 11:04 to play. After a Kam Cerroni (Sussex, Wis.) three-pointer tied the game at 40, Butler scored the next six points to take its biggest lead of the night (46-40) with 4:47 to play.

Freshman Keifer Sykes (Chicago, Ill.) scored back-to-back layups as part of a 7-2 spurt to close the deficit to one (48-47) with 2:26 to play. Down two and with a chance to tie the game on the next possession, Cougill had a chance to tie it but missed two shots in the paint.

Butler took over possession and had the ball for over a minute, getting two offensive rebounds which ultimately resulted in a Kameron Woods' three-pointer with under five seconds on the shot clock that put Butler up five and sealed the victory.

Brown led the Phoenix with 13 points but hit just 3-of-15 shots from the field and knocked down 7-of-9 free throws and seven rebounds. No other Green Bay player reached double figures but three tallied eight points, including Sykes, Cougill and Cerroni.

In a matchup of two of the best rebounding teams in the conference, Butler outrebounded the Phoenix 45-41. Cougill took game-high honors with 13 rebounds. Brown had three blocks while Cougill tallied a pair.

Andrew Smith and Ronald Nored tied Brown for game-high scoring honors by tallying 13 points apiece.

Green Bay returns to action on Saturday at Valparaiso, continuing a three-game conference road trip at 4:05 p.m.

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