The Snow College men's basketball season comes to an end after suffering a 101-96 loss to Butler Community College in the second round of the NJCAA National Tournament Tuesday afternoon in Hutchinson, Kansas.
 
The Badgers entered the matchup off the heels of a convincing 128-86 victory against Trinidad State College in the first round of the tournament. Snow College made a season-high 18 3-pointers against the Trojans.
 
Butler, which employs a full-court pressure defense throughout the entire game, forced the Badgers into early turnovers. Snow College committed five turnovers in the first two minutes of the game as the Grizzlies jumped out to an 8-1 lead.
 
The Badgers struggled to adapt to the pressure, and Butler began to pull away during the middle minutes of the opening period. A 7-0 from the Grizzlies gave them their largest lead of the game, 37-19, with just under seven minutes remaining.
 
As a result of the pressure defense, Butler accumulated a total of 17 personal fouls in the first half. This allowed the Badgers to score some easy points at the charity stripe. The Badgers cut the lead to 10 with 4:40 to play on a layup from McCaden Adams.
 
Snow College then scored six points on the same possession. After a dead-ball technical foul was called on the Grizzlies, Adams stepped to the free-throw line and made the two free throws.
 
After the Badgers retained possession, Adams buried a three-pointer and was fouled. He made the free throw, and Snow College trailed 40-36. The Badgers settled down over the final minutes of the half and entered the break trailing 48-47.
 
Butler extended the lead to five points to begin the second half, but an 8-0 run gave Snow College its only lead of the game. The Grizzlies responded with a 12-0 burst of their own to regain control.
 
Snow College continued to struggle against the defense and was unable to trim into the lead for much of the second half. Butler extended the lead out to 14 points with nine minutes to play.
 
Over the next three minutes, the Badgers whittled the lead down to seven, but on consecutive possessions, the Badgers forced a miss from beyond the arc but couldn't secure the rebound, leading to four points for Butler.
 
Six straight points from the Badgers trimmed the lead again to seven. Each time the Badgers made a run, Butler responded. A turnover from Snow College led to a free throw, and the Grizzlies led 100-90 with under a minute to play.
 
A pair of quick layups from Snow College cut into the deficit, but it was too little, too late as the Badgers suffered the 101-96 loss.
 
As a team, the Badgers committed 30 turnovers, leading to 29 Grizzly points. Snow College also surrendered 23 offensive rebounds, leading to 27 second-chance points.
 
Adams led all scorers with 26 points. He made all 10 of his free-throw attempts. He also grabbed seven rebounds and dished out six assists. He finishes his Snow College career just three points shy of joining the 1,000-point club. He moved into sixth place on the all-time scoring list with 997.
 
Brock McClure finished with a 20-point, 14-rebound double-double. Max Toombs tallied 15 points and five rebounds off the bench. Sean Felts had 12 points while Sam Sivulich added 10 points in the loss.
 
Snow College concludes the season with a 29-5 overall record. The Badgers will return to action with a full schedule next fall.