Butler Stays In Hunt For League Title With Last-Second Win at Green Bay

Matt Howard capped a game-high 22 points with the game-winning dunk with 1.8 seconds left, lifting the Butler Bulldogs to a 64-62 win over Green Bay at the Resch Center on Tuesday night.  The victory brings the Bulldogs even with Valparaiso and Cleveland State in the wins column, while the Dawgs are two gams back of Valpo in the loss column with three League contests remaining.

Playing his second game back from injury, Howard was a force inside and out for Butler (19-9, 11-5 Horizon), knocking down 3-of-5 three point attempts while going 5-of-10 from inside the arc.  The senior added his lone steal of the night on Green Bay's attempt to tie, picking off a long pass as time expired.

Green Bay (12-15, 6-9 Horizon) knotted the game with just over 24 ticks remaining on two Alec Brown free throws after the 7-foot freshman grabbed an offensive board off a Steve Baker miss.

Butler did not immediately call timeout following the free throws, instead bringing the clock inside of five seconds before head coach Brad Stevens took a timeout to set up the inbounds play to Howard.  The forward caught the ball at the top of the three-point arc and drove for the go-ahead dunk.

The Bulldogs' starting five carried them for most of the contest, finishing with 60 of the team's 64 points.  Shelvin Mack and Shawn Vanzant joined Howard in double figures, finishing with 13 and 12 points, respectively.  Mack handed out six assists for Butler, who did not trail in the game after taking a 10-8 lead on a Chase Stigall three.

Senior Rahmon Fletcher became just the sixth Green Bay player to record 1,600 points in his career, leading the way with 18 points to move to 1,611 in his career.  Brown held his own in the post, finishing with 12 points and corraling seven boards.

Butler will be off until Saturday, when the Bulldogs head to UIC for the Horizon League Game of the Week at 2 p.m. ET, with television coverage available in all 10 League markets.  Green Bay will turn its attention to the 2011 Sears BracketBusters, where they will head to Carbondale, Ill., for a meeting with Southern Illinois on Saturday.  Tip-off is slated for 3:05 p.m. ET.