Akande, Lester key close road win for Bulldogs
Wednesday, March 5, 2008, 17:27 EST
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On Senior Day in Hinkle Fieldhouse, Pete Campbell and Mike Green orchestrated outstanding performances in their final regular season home game, leading the Bulldogs to a 65-31 win over Horizon League last-place Detroit.
Junior Alex Boros hit her first home run of the season, and Kristen Malinkey proved to be unstoppable from the mound in Butler’s 2-1 victory over Michigan State on Sunday. With the win, the softball team finished the three-day Georgia Softball Classic with a 2-3 record
It was a rough opening weekend for the baseball team, who traveled to Lexington, Ky. to face a nationally-ranked Wildcat squad with five wins already under its belt.
The men’s tennis team opened up conference play by defeating visiting Valparaiso 6-1 on Friday.On the women’s side, the team captured an 8-1 victory over University of Indianapolis on Friday. The Butler Bulldogs men's basketball team will host the second and semifinal rounds of the Horizon League Tournament, beginning at 6 p.m. Friday, March 7. The Bulldogs (27-3, 16-2) received the No. 1 seed for the tournament based on their conference record and automatically advanced to the semifinal round, with a game at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 8. In an attempt to reclaim some pride and standing lost during the ESPNU Bracketbuster, the men’s basketball team’s fans filled Hinkle with energy as they aimed to clinch the Horizon League regular season title.
The second place Wright State Raiders, who had given Butler its first loss of the season, stood in the way. With aggressive play, the Bulldogs came out on top of the Raiders and on top of the Horizon League with a 66-61 win.
The Bulldogs (18-9, 8-8) shot 52.9 percent from the field in the second half, led by junior Lade Akande’s 12 points and sophomore Susan Lester’s 11 points.
The Penguins took over initially, leading by as much as seven in the early going. Butler worked hard over the next several minutes, until baskets by freshman Brittany Bowen and Akande helped the team rally back and take a 23-22 advantage late in the half.
YSU rallied with a quick five points to take back the game, but baskets from sophomore Melanie Thornton and Lester gave the Bulldogs a 28-27 lead with 2:13 remaining. However, another run would give the Penguins a 33-30 lead at the break.
Butler stormed back after halftime with a 13-2 run over an eight-minute span. YSU again battled back with a 7-0 run and then the Bulldogs answered with their own 6-0 run to maintain a 53-47 advantage with just less than seven minutes to play. Unfortunately, another run by the Penguins evened the score at 53.
The teams continued to exchange baskets until junior Tara Miller hit a pair of clutch free throws to give Butler a 61-58 lead. The Penguins answered with two free throws of their own, but that was as close as they would get. The Bulldogs buckled down on defense to seal the win.
Also contributing for Butler were Miller and senior Candace Bain with eights points each.