Fifth year forward Jahmyl Telfort scored a team-high 24 points against Providence. Photo by Jada Gangazha.
SAWYER GOLDWEIN | SPORTS CO-EDITOR | sgoldwein@butler.edu
The men’s basketball team staved off Providence and picked up an 82-81 victory at Hinkle Fieldhouse on Feb. 8.
After a slow start to the game, the Bulldogs quickly fought back, jumping out in front with stellar shooting from beyond the arc. Sophomore guard Finley Bizjack and redshirt senior Patrick McCaffery were both red-hot, making three triples apiece in the first half.
Butler’s two leading scorers were quiet early on but came out of halftime firing. Senior forward Pierre Brooks and fifth-year forward Jahmyl Telfort combined to score the first 14 Butler points in the second half.
The Dawgs led for the majority of the second half, but Providence battled back to tie it with just a couple of minutes remaining. Despite free throw woes and late-game offensive struggles, Butler held on to win their second straight game. The Bulldogs had not won two consecutive games since Dec. 3, when they beat Eastern Illinois a week after a neutral-site victory over Mississippi State.
Brooks feels that the Bulldogs’ chemistry and effort has been strong as of late, leading to the team’s success.
“We’re playing for one another right now,” Brooks said. “Just to see us playing well and keeping those leads [to] win games is a good feeling.”
While Butler’s 11-13 record leaves it hopeless of getting an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament, the Dawgs still want to continue to improve and build momentum. Telfort feels a late surge is within reach.
“This team is playing more for March,” Telfort said. “We just want to get better every day and keep winning games to build that confidence. As soon as March hits, let’s go.”
While the team looks to move forward as a unit, they will be forced to do it without one player. Just hours before tipoff the team announced that sophomore forward Augusto Cassia decided to leave the program immediately. The native of Brazil had not played since suffering an injury against North Dakota State on Dec. 10. Cassia will remain enrolled as a student at Butler, but the cause for his departure from the team is unclear.
Even head coach Thad Matta did not know what spurred Cassia’s decision.
“I wish I could tell you,” Matta said. “[Cassia] said he’s done.”
Despite his confusion regarding the unexpected exit, Matta still expressed his support for Cassia.
“I love [Cassia],” Matta said. “I’ll do whatever I can to help him at his next spot, but it was an odd one to me.”
The Bulldogs will get a week to regroup before a Feb. 15 home matchup against Georgetown.
