BUTLER TWP — Butler passed its first crunch-time test Friday night.

Leading Slippery Rock by two points with 5:31 left in the third period at their own tip-off boys basketball tournament, the Golden Tornado received some stern words from coach Matt Clement during a timeout.

“Basically, it was a wake-up call,” senior Nick Patten said. “He lit a fire under us. Coach knows how to motivate that way.”

Butler out-scored the gritty Rockets 20-9 the rest of the way to post a 54-41 victory.

Patten scored 23 points, grabbed nine rebounds and dished out three assists in the victory. He sank a lay-up, then assisted on an Eric Hindman lay-up in the final moments of the third quarter, giving Butler a 42-34 lead entering the fourth.

Slippery Rock never got closer than seven the rest of the way.

“Nick was the guy tonight. He played a great game as one of our captains, and I'm proud of him,” Clement said. “But he'll be the first one to tell you. It may be a different guy every night for us.

“Tonight was his night.”

Slippery Rock trailed 42-35 with 5:38 remaining before the Tornado went on an 8-2 run to open up a 50-37 edge with 2:09 to play.

“We hung in there for more than three quarters before they pulled away,” Rockets coach Phil Bushre said. “Our effort was there. I expect that to always be there.

“They hurt us on the boards, but we don't have size and we're gonna have to adapt to that. We're going to be overmatched that way often.”

Butler held a 41-19 edge in rebounding. Six-foot-3 freshman Tyler Frederick came off the bench to grab nine rebounds.

“No two ways about it, Tyler impacted this game tonight,” Clement said. “He gave us a spark. He played half of the JV game and had 10 rebounds. That gives him 19 for the night.

“We won this game despite hitting two of 16 3-point shots. We're not going to go two for 16 out there very often.”

Jake Whitmer paced the Rockets with 15 points and four rebounds. Camren Neal scored 11 points.

The Rockets' last lead was at 25-24 with 3:01 left in the first half. Patten drained a trey to give Butler the lead it never lost with 2:08 left in the half.

Butler will meet Vincentian in the tourney title game at 6:30 p.m.

“We came out timid at the start of this game,”Clement said. “Slippery Rock plays aggressively, they get on the floor, they get in your face ... If we come out timid on Saturday, we'll be down 25-2 before we blink.”

Slippery Rock faces Wilkinsburg — which likes to run the floor — in the consolation game.

“We've got George Junior, Farrell and Meadville coming up and they all love to run,” Bushre said. “This will be a good test for us.”

Vincentian 82, Wilkinsburg 66 — Junior guard Ryan Wolf led four Royals in double figures, striking for 33 points and eight rebounds. Vincentian took advantage of 38 Wilkinsburg turnovers.

Isaiah Pete had 20 points and 11 boards for the Tigers while DeShawn Adaire had 15 points and 11 rebounds.

VINCENTIAN 82

Kevin Fischer 3-9 6-9 12, Jim Kenna 4-13 2-2 11, Jay Cortese 2-7 1-4 5, Jamison Nee 4-8 3-3 13, Ryan Wolf 12-30 6-6 33, Jack Monahan 0-2 0-2 0, Greg Kaniecki 2-3 0-0 4, Ian Taylor 2-3 0-0 4, Evin Fitzgerald 0-1 0-0 0, Greg McQueen 0-1 0-00, David Jen 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 29-78 18-26 82.

WILKINSBURG 66

Kenny Eleam 5-7 2-4 12, Robert Thornhill 1-1 0-0 2, DeShawn Adaire 6-20 2-2 15, Desmond Stoles 2-2 0-0 4, Isaiah Pete 8-11 4-4 20, Montay Clancy 4-6 1-2 9, Rafeck Simpson 2-5 0-2 4. Totals: 28-52 9-14 66.

Vincentian 30 16 20 16—82

Wilkinsburg19 12 14 21—66

3-point goals: Kenna, Nee 2, Wolf 3; Adaire

SLIPPERY ROCK 41

Jake Whitmer 4-6 7-7 15, Brady Kadlubek 1-11 0-0 2, Matt Badger 3-8 0-1 8, Mark Cessar 1-3 0-1 3, Camren Neal 5-6 1-2 11, Ryan Dutton 0-3 0-0 0, Aaron Rager 1-2 0-0 2. Totals: 15-39 8-11 41.

BUTLER 54

Rich Marnic 0-4 0-0 0, Mark Gross 3-4 1-2 7, Keenan Krause 1-2 0-0 2, Justice Lewandowski 2-6 0-0 5, Nick Patten 7-17 8-11 23, Cory Wheeler 0-0 0-0 0, Eric Hindman 1-1 0-0 2, Arum Krause 4-9 1-3 9, Andrew Paterno 0-4 0-0 0, Tyler Frederick 2-3 2-2 6. Totals: 20-50 12-18 54.

Slippery Rock 12 15 7 7—41

Butler14 18 10 12—54

3-point goals: Badger 2, Cessar; Lewandowski, Patten

JV: Butler, 68-34 (B: Jace Stutz 13, ASR: Chase Allen 8)

Saturday: Championship: Butler vs. Vincentian, 6:30 p.m.; Consolation: Slippery Rock vs. Wilkinsburg, 5 p.m.