PITTSBURGH — Friday night was nothing exciting for Shakeem Cox — until the final five seconds.

Perry Traditional Academy's senior guard stole the ball with that much time on the clock and drove the length of the court for a buzzer-beating layup. The play handed Butler a stunning 51-49 boys basketball loss.

The Golden Tornado (1-3) had led for the entire fourth quarter despite suffering eight turnovers and scoring only five points in the period. Butler did not sink a field goal in the final seven minutes, 30 seconds.

“Somebody has to step up in those situations and tonight, nobody did,” Butler coach Matt Clement said.

The game featured 10 lead changes and was tied four times. When Seth Horwat sank a layup with 7:30 remaining, the Tornado had the night's biggest lead at 46-40.

But the rest of Butler's offense consisted of one successful free throw each by Seth Cook, Luke Hartung and Dom Pusateri.

Cook scored 24 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to lead all players in both categories.

“Seth had an excellent game. He's a battler, a warrior on the floor,” Clement said. “But it takes more than one guy having a great game to win.

“Seth had a great game. We still lost.”

Pusateri's free throw gave the Tornado a 49-47 lead with 2:19 to play. Cox tied the game by hitting both ends of a one-and-one with 58.7 seconds left.

Cook missed a layup and Perry point guard Donte Marcus — the Commodores' leading scorer with 16 points — missed a 3-point shot that bounced off the rim and over the backboard. The latter play gave the Tornado possession with 24.6 seconds to play.

Butler lost control of the ball in the paint and Cox took off the other way with the night's heroics.

“Our school merged with Oliver last year and we've got two of their starters in our lineup now,” Perry coach Marco Corona said. “We're still jelling as a unit, but we're definitely getting better.”

Cox led the City League in scoring last year, averaging 21 points per game for Oliver. He scored 10 points Friday, hitting just 3 of 14 shots from the field.

Hartung scored 12 points and Horwat had six of 35 Tornado rebounds. Jywaun Byrd, a 6-foot-3 forward, came off the bench to score eight points and snare seven of 25 Commodore rebounds.

Cook sank 10 of 11 free throws. The rest of Butler's lineup canned just 2 of 8.

“The foul shooting is becoming a broken record,” Clement said. “We have to get the job done there.

“You can't concentrate out there three-fourths of the time. It has to be all of the time. Twice, we left their guys wide open for 3-pointers off inbound passes. That's inexcusable. That type of stuff kills you in a game like this.”

Since dropping its opener by 42 to New Castle, Perry (2-2) lost a 67-54 decision to West Middlesex before winning two straight.

“Butler gave us a butt-whipping last year,” Corona said. “We rely on quickness and pressure defense. When we play smart, we can be good.

“This is the type of win we needed early to springboard our season.”

The Tornado had 21 turnovers Friday, many of them resulting in transition buckets the other way.

“We turned the ball over more against these guys than we did against New Castle,” Clement said. “The time for growing pains is over. We need to grow up fast.

“Hampton is the No. 2 team in the WPIAL and we're going into their place Tuesday. We need to figure things out in a hurry.”

BUTLER 49

Dom Pusateri 1-4 1-3 3, Seth Cook 7-12 10-11 24, Keenan Krause 2-7 0-0 5, Seth Horwat 1-3 0-1 2, Luke Hartung 4-9 1-2 12, Arum Krause 0-2 0-1 0, Nick Patten 0-1 0-0 0, Justice Lewandowski 0-0 0-0 0, Jordan Cratty 0-0 0-0 0, Mark Gross 0-1 0-0 0, Shae Stobert 0-1 0-1 0, Zach Neudorfer 1-1 0-0 3, Luke Tincha 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 16-42 12-19 49.

PERRY 51

Devin Lyles 1-5 1-2 3, Daron Clark 34-6 0-0 9, Shakeem Cox 3-14 3-5 10, Donte Marcus 8-17 0-0 16, Ray Robinson 1-2 0-0 3, Marcus Dean 1-1 0-0 2, Ahmed Turner 0-0 0-0 0, Jywaun Byrd 4-5 0-2 8. Totals: 22-49 4-9 51.

Butler 16 11 17 5—49

Perry19 8 13 11—51

3-point goals: K.Krause, Hartung 3, Neudorfer; Clark, Cox, Robinson

JV: Butler, 49-31 (B: Alec Geibel 11, Arum Krause 11; P: Antoine Long 15)

Tuesday: Butler at Hampton