PARADISE ISLAND, BAHAMAS – Junior Kellen Dunham sparked a 12-6 run in the final five minutes of the game to lift Butler to a 74-68 victory over BIG EAST foe Georgetown and a third place finish at the Battle 4 Atlantis on Friday (Nov. 28).  The win was Butler's second in the Bahamas and lifted the Bulldogs to 5-1 on the young campaign.

Dunham, limited to just two points in the first 15 minutes of the second half, hit a three-point field goal with just over five minutes remaining to break a 52-52 tie and give the Bulldogs the lead for good.  He followed that big shot with a short jumper 37 seconds later to stretch Butler's lead to five points, and he later added a pair of free throws in the final minute.  The 6-6 guard, who had seven of Butler's final 12 points, finished with a team-high 16 points against the Hoyas.

The victory was Butler's first in its brief series with Georgetown.  The two teams will play at least twice more this season during the BIG EAST schedule and could play as many as four more times!

"I'm just really proud of our guys' effort today and their resiliency," said Butler coach Chris Holtmann after the game.  

"Last night, we certainly prepared for Georgetown, but we also watched a lot of our game with Oklahoma.  Early in the year, I've always been a big believer that it's so much about you and your system and trying to make improvements.  And yesterday was a great opportunity for us to learn from some things against a really good team that we need to do better."

The Bulldogs learned well.  Butler broke a 10-10 tie on a lay-up by Roosevelt Jones and then went on to build a 13-point lead, 28-15, with under five minutes remaining in the opening period.  Seven different Bulldogs, led by Alex Barlow, contributed points to Butler's strong start.  Barlow had eight points in the opening period.

But the Hoyas (4-2), who had beaten Butler in all three of the previous meetings between the two teams, closed the first half with their own 12-3 run to cut the Bulldogs' lead to 31-27 at halftime.

Georgetown then opened the second half on a 6-2 run to tie the game at 33-33.  The two teams were never separated by more than four points for the next 12 minutes, until the back-to-back shots by Dunham.

Butler rebounded from a 23.7% shooting performance against Oklahoma in the semifinals to hit 22 of 50 (44%) shots against Georgetown.  The Bulldogs shot 50% (12-24) in the second half on the consolation game win.

Dunham, who was named to the five-player All-Tournament Team at the conclusion of the Battle 4 Atlantis, was one of three Bulldogs to score in double-figures in the win.  Barlow added 11 points, while freshman Kelan Martin came off the bench with ten points.

Freshman Isaac Copeland led Georgetown with 16 points, while freshman Paul White added 13.  BIG EAST Preseason Player of the Year D'Vauntes Smith Rivera finished with 12 points.

The Bulldogs will return to the U.S. and continue their regular season schedule with their first true road game of the year at Indiana State on Wednesday, Dec. 3.  That game at the Hulman Center will start at 7 p.m.