WEXFORD—FoulFest, 2009.

Butler and North Allegheny were whistled for 56 personal fouls and combined to shoot 73 free throws — 39 in the fourth quarter — Saturday night.

The frequent stoppages interrupted a competitive game otherwise, the lead changing hands 11 times before the Tigers pulled away late for a 66-58 boys basketball victory.

As for generating any type of flow offensively?

"It was tough ... Very difficult,"North Allegheny coach Dave DeGregorio said.

"You can't guard anybody when they're shooting free throws,"Butler coach Joe Lewandowski said.

The Golden Tornado (7-13, 3-9) dropped their fourth consecutive game despite taking a 44-39 lead into the final quarter. The game was tied on five occasions, the last at 49-49 with 4:49 left in the contest.

Butler sank 12 of 14 free throws in the final period, but only one of nine shots from the floor.

"That's not good enough when you're playing with a lead,"Lewandowski said. "We didn't close it out. We didn't finish. That's what we've been missing this year.

"We made too many errant passes, just throwing the ball wide of people. It cost us. They (NA) lived off turnovers and free throws tonight."

Butler suffered 24 turnovers in the game to North Allegheny's 10.

The Tigers (14-7, 7-5) snapped a three-game losing streak and avoided losing their final four section games.

"But we're still playing inconsistent basketball,"DeGregorio said. "It's been a couple of possessions every game. If we had executed more consistently, we'd be feeling a lot better about ourselves right now."

North Allegheny went on an 8-0 run to pull away from Butler after Tornado freshman Nate Snodgrass tied the game at 49 with two free throws. Stephane Batton completed a three-point play at the other end to give the Tigers the lead for good.

Anton Constantino followed with a layup, then sank another as the Tigers stole the inbounds pass. AJeff Dassner free throw upped the count to 57-49 with 3:18 to play.

The Tornado never got closer than six the rest of the way. Neither team ever held a double-digit lead.

Bobby Swartwout paced Butler with 22 points and 12 rebounds. He sank nine of 10 free throws, including all six attempts in the fourth quarter.

"When your leading scorer and rebounder all year is a sophomore in Quad-Abasketball, that's saying something about the kind of player he is and is going to be,"Lewandowski said.

Jeff Tompkins added nine points and five rebounds while Brian Jendesky grabbed eight boards. Butler had a 42-27 edge in rebounding.

Jeff Haus, a 6-foot-6 senior forward, paced the Tigers with 24 points and 10 rebounds. He had 10 points and five boards in the third quarter alone.

"He kept us in this game during that stretch," DeGregorio admitted.

Batton, a 6-4 senior forward, added 16 points and nine boards. Constantino contributed 13 points off the bench.

North Allegheny sank 16 of 25 free throws in the fourth quarter.

"Sometimes you have to adapt to how the game is being officiated,"Lewandowski said. "We didn't do that."

BUTLER 58Eric King 0-1 0-0 0, Brian Jendesky 2-7 2-3 7, Logan Renwick 3-4 0-0 7, Jeff Tompkins 3-10 3-5 9, Nate Snodgrass 0-5 6-6 6, Vinny Schmidt 3-7 1-4 7, David Schmidt 0-0 0-0 0, David Tompkins 0-1 0-0 0, Bobby Swartwout 6-8 9-10 22, Cody Herald 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 17-43 21-28 58

NORTH ALLEGHENY 66Ian Thomas 0-1 1-2 1, Jeff Dassner 0-0 3-6 3, Jordan Baierl 0-1 0-0 0, Jeff Haus 7-17 8-12 24, Stephane Batton 3-13 10-12 16, Damian Founds 1-5 2-4 4, Andrew Blumer 1-3 0-0 3, Anton Constantino 3-7 6-8 13, Brice Nikitsher 0-1 0-0 0, Ben Colabrese 1-3 0-1 2. Totals: 16-51 30-45 66

Butler 12 9 23 14—58North Allegheny 7 17 15 27—663-point goals: Jendesky, Renwick, Swartwout; Haus 2, Blumer, Constantino

JV: North Allegheny, 69-60 (B:Cody Herald 15, Cody West 14, Zach Slater 13, Bill Smith 10; NA:Jack Counahan 19, Anthony Dallier 14, Brice Nikitsher 14)

Monday: Butler at Plum