NEW CASTLE— The ball rolled around the rim, then seemed to pause for dramatic effect.

Then it rolled off.

Christos Klutinoty's layup attempt at the end of regulation time would have given Butler's boys basketball team a section road win at New Castle Tuesday night.

Instead, it set up the Red Hurricanes for a 62-54 overtime victory.

"This was a playoff game for us tonight,"New Castle coach Mark Stanley said. "We had to win this game."

New Castle (5-10, 2-4) had dropped seven of its last eight games before surviving the Golden Tornado.

The 'Canes led the game from the 4:26 mark of the first quarter until 4:50 remained in the fourth — but never by more than seven points. Butler (9-5, 2-4) finally grabbed a 45-44 lead on a 3-point shot by Jeff Slater.

The lead changed hands four more times before time expired in the fourth quarter. Cody Fleeger sank a pair of free throws with 52.5 seconds left to give the Tornado a 49-48 edge, their final lead of the night.

New Castle's Mike Andrews knotted the game with a free throw with 10.1 seconds to go, but missed his second shot. Nick Rossmiller pushed the ball up the floor for Butler and shoveled a pass ahead to Klutinoty.

"Nick kept his composure and made a great play,"Butler coach Joe Lewandowski said. "The shot just didn't go down. It was an open look and it could have gone down."

But it didn't.

"We even tipped it back up after the ball rolled off. ... That's the breaks,"Lewandowski said.

New Castle dominated the overtime session, grabbing the lead on the first possession when Tyrone Steals drove to the hoop for a layup and added a free throw seconds later.

Rossmiller fouled out 33 seconds into overtime. Butler was already playing without Mike Pratkanis and Clark Liebler. Pratkanis is out three weeks with an ankle injury and Liebler is sidelined indefinitely with a knee problem.

"We had a freshman and sophomore on the floor at crunch time,"Lewandowski said. "That makes it tough, but that's the way it's gonna be. We're counting on a lot of people."

Andrews, a 6-foot-4 senior center, paced the 'Canes with 20 points and added seven rebounds. Nick Colella added 12 points, eight boards and four assists, and Steals had 10 points.

"I thought Chris Richards gave us a tremendous boost defensively,"Stanley said. "He raised the intensity level in overtime and the other kids matched it."

Colella sank five of six free throws in OTand Andrews scored five points in the extra session.

"When you're struggling like we've been, sometimes you need a break to get you going,"Stanley said. "We got that break when that layup didn't go at the end (of regulation).

"They got a long rebound off the missed free throw. escaped and got an open look. We got lucky."

Slater scored 19 points for Butler, 15 in the second half. Fleeger had nine points and five boards, and Rossmiller had six points, six rebounds and four steals before he fouled out.

"This section's tight and the games are going to be like this,"Lewandowski said. "We've been in this situation (with injuries) before. We'll keep on fighting, keep on battling."

BUTLER 54Jeff Slater 7-13 3-5 19, Cody Fleeger 2-10 4-4 9, Austin Snodgrass 1-4 1-2 3, Logan Renwick 2-2 0-1 5, Nick Rossmiller 3-5 0-0 6, Jeff Tompkins 2-5 0-0 4, Ryan Melder 0-0 0-0 0, Christos Klutinoty 1-10 2-4 4, Nick Powers 0-0 0-0 0, Bob Swartwout 2-3 0-0 4.

Totals: 20-52 10-16 54

NEW CASTLE 62Tonio Fulena 3-6 0-0 7, Chris Richards 0-1 0-0 0, Nick Colella 3-8 6-8 12, Tyrone Steals 3-7 3-6 10, Mike Andrews 9-11 2-4 20, JaJuan Jay 1-2 0-0 3, Nick Klein 2-3 0-0 5, Rodney Parchman 2-3 0-0 5, Steven Richardson 0-0 0-0 0.

Totals: 23-41 11-18 62

Butler 14 10 11 14 5—54New Castle 18 10 13 8 13—623-point goals: Slater 2, Fleeger, Renwick; Fulena, Steals, Jay, Klein, Parchman

JV: New Castle, 39-33 (NC:Nick Klein 9, Rodney Parchman 9, B:Logan Renwick 10)

Saturday: Butler at Woodland Hills