ERIE — Butler simply didn't get enough breaks.

Or rebounds.

The Golden Tornado boys basketball team struggled early against McDowell, falling behind by a many as 10 points before rallying to take a brief lead.

That lead was all too brief as the Trojans stormed ahead again and kept Butler at arm's length as the Tornado fell 60-56 Wednesday night.

“When you are on the road in an environment like that, it's never easy,” said Butler boys basketball coach Matt Clement. “They fought, but there was just too many mistakes.”

Butler (2-3) was also killed early on the glass as McDowell (5-0) outrebounded the Tornado 17-8 in the first quarter.

Most of those rebounds were on the offensive end. McDowell came up with 12 offensive boards in the game.

That was one of the reasons why Butler could never wrest the momentum away after its big third-quarter run to get back into the game.

“You aren't going to win many games that way against good defensive teams that aren't going to give you easy hoops,” Clement said. “You're giving away points and you're fighting from behind.”

But after trailing 34-24 early in the second half, the Tornado went on a 14-5 run to close the game to 39-38.

Butler took a 49-48 lead on a pair of free throws by Nate Snodgrass with 5:50 remaining in the fourth quarter, but the Trojans grabbed the lead back for good a minute later.

Mixing a 1-2-2 matchup zone with a 1-3-1 trap, Butler gave McDowell fits at times.

But the Trojans found a way to score enough to win — sometimes by the benefit of a few fortunate bounces.

“Stuff like when we were in the 1-3-1, a couple of loose balls that were tipped high in the air and right to one of their guys for a jumper,” Clement said. “But you know what, when you lose a couple of games in a row, those are the kinds of things that happen.”

It was just one of those games for Butler, a night after absorbing a tough home loss to Shaler.

It was a satisfying win, though, for McDowell and coach Kraig Hetz.

“Butler is a very good team,” Hetz said. “We worked really hard in practice this week on attacking their 1-3-1 trap. I thought early we did a really good job scoring early against it. That was a big key of the game.”

Zach Mayr led the Trojans with 20 points and Bobby Roach, playing his first game in over a week because of an ankle injury, added 19.

Roach will play baseball at Tennessee Tech.

“He's a very good athlete,” Hetz said. “He's 6-foot-3 and long and did some very nice things against their zones.”

Bobby Swartwout and Snodgrass each scored 15 points for Butler, which will have a few days off before flying to San Diego to play in the Surf'n Turf Tournament starting Monday.

“These kids do work hard and they work hard 11-plus months of the year for me, it's kind of a reward for them,” Clement said. “But it's still a business trip.”

BUTLER 56Nate Snodgrass 5-10 4-4 15, Trevor Wideman 0-0 0-0 0, Bobby Swartwout 6-13 3-5 15, Cody HErald 1-4 4-5 6, Zach Slater 2-3 0-0 4, Jake Hillard 2-5 0-0 4, Bill Smith 0-0 0-0 0, Matt Baranchak 0-0 0-0 0, Vinny Schmidt 3-4 2-3 8, Cody West 0-0 0-0 0, David Thomkins 1-1 2-2 4.

Totals: 20-40 15-19 56.

McDOWELL 60Colin Kimball 3-9 6-10 12, Zach Mayr 8-13 3-6 20, Martin Oduho 0-3 0-0 0, Chris Miller 0-0 0-0 0, Bobby Roach 8-13 3-6 19, Kevin Stoicovy 1-1 0-0 2, Andy Milloy 1-2 3-6 5, Luke Nientimp 1-2 0-0 4.

Totals: 22-43 15-28 60.

Butler 14 10 18 14—56McDowell 15 16 15 14—603-point goals: Butler 1 (Snodgrass); McDowell 1 (Mayr).

JV Score: McDowell 55-43 (Baranchak 11)

Monday: Butler vs. Vacaville (Calif.) at San Diego Surf'n Slam Tournament