WEXFORD— All was well with Butler — until its offense fell into the abyss.

The Golden Tornado led section leader North Allegheny 22-18 on the road Tuesday night with 4:28 remaining in the first half.

By the time Butler scored again, the Tigers (10-4, 5-0) had a 31-22 advantage with 5:54 left in the third quarter. The Tornado never got closer than five points the rest of the way in dropping a 49-39 boys basketball decision.

The scoring drought of 6 minutes, 34 seconds wasn't a first for Butler (7-8, 0-5).

The Tornado went a stretch of five minutes without scoring against Youngstown Woodrow Wilson Saturday and failed to score in the first 10 minutes against Pine-Richland last week. Butler didn't score for a five-minute stretch in losing a big lead at Seneca Valley two weeks ago.

"What happens is we turn the ball over a few times and fall out of synch,"Butler coach Joe Lewandowski said. "That's something a young team just has to play itself through."

The score was tied six times and the lead changed hands on six occasions in the first half Tuesday night. AJon Masuga 3-pointer with 18 seconds left in the second quarter gave North Allegheny a 24-22 lead at intermission.

The Tigers came out in the second half and immediately expanded the margin. After Masuga sank another 3-pointer, Damian Founds canned a short jumper and Phil Hoffman followed suit, NAhad a 31-22 lead before Lewandowski called a timeout less than two minutes into the quarter.

"What did I tell the kids at halftime?"Tigers coach Dave DeGregorio repeated a question. "Play better — in so many words.

"We didn't rebound well tonight. I don't think we matched Butler's intensity in this game, and that was disappointing."

A pair of Mike Pratkanis free throws pulled Butler to within 36-30 with 6:32 left in the game. Two minutes later, Masuga canned his third 3-pointer for a 39-30 North Allegheny lead.

"That was the shot of the game for them,"Lewandowski said. "We just wanted to hang around, hang around, hang around, force them to play our tempo. Once we fell behind by nine, we had to play their tempo."

The Tigers' lead peaked at 44-33 with 48 seconds left as the teams exchanged free throws down the stretch. Both teams made just five free throws in the second half.

Masuga paced the Tigers with 12 points while Hoffman added 11 points and five of NA's 22 rebounds.

Pratkanis led Butler with 17 points and 11 rebounds. Sean Lowry added 10 points, seven boards and three steals for the Tornado, who had 26 rebounds.

"The play of (Pratkanis)surprised us, particularly the way he was scoring,"DeGregorio said. "My biggest fear was him shooting from the perimeter with Hoffman guarding him out there, but he proved to be hard to handle down low."

Lewandowski said Pratkanis took advantage of his opportunities.

"They did a great job as a team guarding Sean, and Mike was there to do some damage,"he said. "They were going to try to take Lowry and (Cody)Fleeger away and make somebody else beat them. That wasn't a bad plan."

Fleeger, still bothered by a headache after being kicked in the head in Saturday's game, was held to one point. Nick Rossmiller returned to the lineup Tuesday, but he reinjured his shoulder and is out indefinitely.

The Tornado junior varsity rallied from a 14-point deficit with three minutes left to tie the game, only to lose 45-43 on two Ian Thomas free throws with 1.5 seconds left.

BUTLER 39Mike Pratkanis 5-8 6-7 17, Aaron Dorondo 0-1 0-0 0, Cody Fleeger 0-6 1-2 1, Jace Lumley 0-2 0-0 0, Brian Deangelis 0-0 0-0 0, Ryan Melder 0-2 2-2 2, Sean Lowry 3-7 3-4 10, Chris Klutinoty 3-7 0-0 7, Nick Rossmiller 1-1 0-0 2.

Totals: 12-34 12-15 39

NORTH ALLEGHENY 49Phil Hoffman 5-8 1-2 11, Jon Masuga 4-7 1-2 12, Ross Constantino 1-5 0-0 3, Damian Founds 1-3 5-6 7, Ted Connolly 2-6 2-6 6, Steve Kirsch 1-2 1-2 3, Adam Neugebauer 0-2 0-0 0, Jeff Finke 1-2 4-4 7, Dan Kusyner 0-1 0-0 0.

Totals: 15-36 14-22 49

Butler 12 10 6 11—39North Allegheny 14 10 12 13—493-point goals: Pratkanis, Lowry, Klutinoty; Masuga 3, Constantino, Finke

JV: North Allegheny, 45-43 (B-Matt Maloy 11, NA-Nick Dvorsky 14)

Friday: New Castle atButler