PLUM BORO — A strong first-half performance kept Butler in the game, but a poor showing in the third quarter took the Golden Tornado out of it.

Trailing Plum 27-23 at halftime, the Butler boys basketball team was outscored 14-4 in the third quarter and never threatened the Mustangs' lead again in a 60-45 loss.

After shooting 11-of-17 for 64.7 percent from the field in the first half, the Tornado made only 2-of-10 attempts in the third period — both by senior Sean Lowry.

"Playing on the road, you have to come out strong at the beginning of the game and at the start of the second half," said Butler coach Joe Lewandowski. "We didn't play well in the third quarter. But Plum's a good team. They're undefeated (5-0) for a reason."

Plum junior forward Jon Sharp made a baseline jumper, then stole the ball at mid-court and laid in another two-point basket to give the Mustangs a 39-25 edge with 2:36 left in the third period.

Plum didn't commit a turnover in the quarter and had only six in the game.

"I'm thrilled with just six turnovers," said veteran Plum coach Ron Richards. "In the second half, I thought our rebounding improved and we limited (Butler) to just one shot on a lot of possessions. That got our transition game going a bit."

Lowry was Butler's lone double-digit scorer with 14 points. Cody Fleeger scored eight points, Kris Klutinoty and Mike Pratkanis each added six points.

Jarrod Barbarino scored 14 points to lead Plum, and Andrew Cressler added 11.

The Golden Tornado made their first four field goal attempts of the game and trailed 9-8 with 3:00 left in the opening quarter.

"We were playing at a faster pace than we would have liked, but we still got the shots we wanted," said Lewandowski.

But the Mustang's long-range shooting helped give the team a four-point lead by halftime.

While all three of Butler's 3-point baskets came in the fourth quarter, Plum managed four of them in the first half — all from different players: Barbarino, Scott McGough, Matt Kraemer and Dan Bartek.

Both teams shot more than 50 percent from the field. Plum was 21-of-39 for 54 percent, while Butler was 20-of-38 for 53 percent.

Plum won the battle for rebounds, 22-19.

BUTLER 45Mike Pratkanis 3 0-0 6, Jeff Slater 1 0-0 2, Cody Fleeger 3 1-2 8, Zach Cuffman 2 0-0 4, Jace Lumley 1 0-0 2, Brian DeAngelis 1 1-2 3, Sean Lowry 7 0-1 14, Kris Klutinoty 2 0-0 6, Bill Coleman 0 0-0 0, Ryan Melder 0 0-0 0, Clark Liebler 0 0-0 0, Aaron Dorondo 0 0-0 0. Totals: 20 2-5 45.

PLUM 60Jarrod Barbarino 4 4-5 14, Anthony Della Salla 3 1-2 7, Scott McGough 3 2-2 9, Andrew Cressler 3 5-7 11, Matt Kraemer 1 0-0 3, Dan Bartek 3 0-0 7, Jon Sharp 4 1-4 9, Sean Blattenberger 0 0-0 0, Steve McDermott 0 0-0 0, Anthony Bowser 0 0-0 0, Anthony DeAngelo 0 0-0 0. Totals: 21 13-20 60.

Butler 14 9 4 18—45Plum 16 11 14 19—603-point goals: Butler 3 (Klutinoty 2, Fleeger); Plum 5 (Barbarino 2, McGough, Kraemer, Bartek)

JV: Butler 39-21 (B-Nick Powers and Zach Cuffman, seven points)

Today: Woodland Hills at Butler