INDIANAPOLIS, IND. – When the final buzzer went off inside Butler University's Hinkle Fieldhouse Monday, Dec. 9, Manchester University coach Brad Nadborne was looking at much more than the final score.
"Some of our guys will never get an opportunity like this again," he said. "This is a once-in-a-lifetime kind of thing. Sure, we would have wanted to keep things closer, but this is a very good Butler team. We felt we did some good things from time to time, too."
In front of a paid crowd of just under 6,000 fans inside one of NCAA Division I' most iconic settings, the Black and Gold (1-8) served early notice that they were hoping to give their Big East Conference opposition all they could handle. Behind the hot hand of sophomore guard Brady Dolezal (Tipton, Ind.), MU trailed just 10-8 with 14:51 to go in the first 20 minutes. They managed to stay within arm's distance with less than five and a half minutes to go in the half, trailing only 35-22. However, Butler, moving to 7-2, used a 13-2 run to end the half and then opened the second stanza with a 25-5 roll to break the contest open en route to a 100-41 decision.
Dolezal, who tallied MU's first eight points, recorded his third double-figure scoring effort in five outings. He finished with 14 points on five-of-eight shooting from the field which included two-of-three from outside the arc. Junior guard Grant Newlin (Muncie, Ind.) just missed on double digits with nine points to go with a team-high two assists. Junior forward Caleb Jackson (New Castle, Ind.) and sophomore forward Jarod Schrock (Logansport, Ind.) each grabbed four rebounds, while Jackson was third on the Spartans' scoring chart with seven points.
Manchester University returns to the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference slate Saturday, Dec. 14, with a 4 p.m. tip-off inside Rose-Hulman's Hulbert Arena in Terre Haute, Ind.
NOTES: Saturday's clash with the conference preseason favorites is the Black and Gold's final pre-Christmas game. They break from competition, after the Terre Haute trip, until Mt. St. Joseph College of Ohio visits Stauffer-Wolfe Arena Saturday, Jan. 4 … The game at Butler was MU's final 2013-14 non-conference game and the last of three appearances against NCAA Division I schools. It was the 137th all-time for the program against a Division I opponent.