For the second game in a row on their four-game Australia trip, Butler found itself in a hole that they couldn’t dig themselves out of. The Cairns Taipans took advantage of their lull by the Bulldogs and ran away with a 97-73 win in the Sunday exhibition contest with Butler.
Cairns was up 14-12 early and closed out the first period with a 14-6 run to push the lead to 28-18 after the first 10 minutes.
The Bulldogs took the second quarter 22-20, but were still down by a 48-40 count at halftime.
Butler's offense fell flat in the third frame, as they were dominated 25-12 and Cairns distanced themselves from the Bulldogs for a 73-52 deficit.
Cairns Taipans held Butler in-check for the final quarter, outscoring the Bulldogs 24-21 to win going away by a final margin of 24 points, 97-73.
Once again, Butler's leading scorer was sophomore Kellen Dunham (Pendleton, IN/Pendleton Heights) tying with a game-high 16, just as he did on Saturday versus the Australian National team. Seniors Erik Fromm (Bloomington, IN/South) and Khyle Marshall (Davie, FL/Flanagan) continued their steady contributions in starting roles, both putting up 13 points. Freshman Andrew Chrabascz (Portsmouth, RI/Cushing Academy) found himself in the frontcourt rotation against Cairns Taipans. The 6'7, 205 pound frosh chipped in eight points, while Kameron Woods (Louisville, KY/Eastern) grabbed seven boards for the second consective game, while also scoring four.
Alex Loughton tied Dunham with a game-high 16 points to lead the Taipans. They were also able to get Cameron Tragardh (15), Clint Steindl (13) and Mitch Young (11) into double-figures.
It was a tough two games in a 24-hour span. Losing 96-57 to the Australian National Team on Saturday, Butler turned around on Sunday and matched up with Cairns Taipans of the National Basketball League of Australia. On one hand, playing against international professional players will only help the Butler Bulldogs as they enter their first season as a member of the Big East conference. On the other hand,
Head coach Brandon Miller, along with his staff and players will spend a couple more days sight-seeing and will head home on Wednesday, August 14th to Indianapolis.
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