BUTLER TWP— Two-minute games are something Butler is getting accustomed to — and preparing for.

"We play out the final two minutes of a game in practice all the time," Golden Tornado boys basketball coach Joe Lewandowski said. "Tonight we did a good job of executing what we wanted to do."

Except put the ball in the basket, that is.

Butler (1-2) missed three free throws in the final two minutes Tuesday night and didn't score a field goal until Cody Fleeger canned a six-footer with 20 seconds left in a 48-41 loss to Altoona.

All three of Butler's games have been up for grabs in the final two minutes.

Fleeger sank a free throw with two minutes left to pull the Tornado within 44-39. But Sean Lowry missed the front end of a one-and-one with 1:08 left and Butler turned the ball over twice after that.

"We would have preferred to play a faster-tempo game," Altoona coach Larry Betar said. "Butler did a good job of keeping the flow of this game at a pace they were comfortable with."

Butler's last lead of the night was at 12-10 with 3:27 left in the first quarter. A 7-0 run by Altoona (2-1) at that point gave the Mountain Lions the lead for good.

Quentyn Ferguson stuck back an offensive rebound, Alex Raymond drained a 3-pointer and Jesse Betar drove for a lay-up off a steal during the spurt.

Of Altoona's 15 first-half field goals, 12 came on layups. Fleeger and Lowry, two of Butler's better defenders in the paint, did not play in the second quarter after picking up two fouls each in the first period.

"They were scoring a lot of transition buckets, getting the ball out and up the floor quickly,"Lewandowski said. "We committed too many turnovers tonight.

"We gave up some offensive rebounding chances in the second half to stop a lot of that penetration the other way."

Altoona scored only 17 points in the second half. The Mountain Lions return three starters from a team that finished 19-6 last year.

Their biggest lead was 27-17 with 1:53 left in the first half.

"When we had to, we came up with some big plays,"Betar said. "Butler makes it tough on you because of that defense. They know how to hang in games."

Still, the Tornado managed only 15 field goals all night. Trailing 42-36 through three quarters, Butler got off only one field goal attempt in the first four minutes of the final quarter.

"We've still got a bunch of new players trying to find their way around,"Lewandowski said. "We'll get better."

Fleeger scored 12 points for the Tornado with Mike Pratkanis adding 11.

Butler had a 25-22 edge on the boards with Pratkanis, Fleeger, Lowry and Jeff Slater grabbing four rebounds each.

Jesse Betar scored 12 points with Matt Dukery adding 10 for Altoona.

Butler had 18 turnovers to Altoona's 13. The Tornado are averaging 37 points per game through three contests.

"Maybe this is the type of team we're going to be, hanging close going into the final two minutes,"Lewandowski said. "The points will come. We just need to rebound better, cut down on turnovers and grow together as a team."

ALTOONA48Jordan Becker 1-2 0-0 2, Alex Raymond 2-3 0-0 6, Matt Dukery 5-8 0-2 10, Jesse Betar 5-10 2-2 12, D.J. Patterson 2-5 0-0 4, Alphonso Lewis 3-3 0-2 6, Quentyn Ferguson 3-8 0-0 6, Matt Gehret 1-2 0-0 2. Totals: 22-41 2-6 48

BUTLER41Mike Pratkanis 3-6 4-5 11, Cody Fleeger 5-12 1-2 12, Brian Deangelis 3-5 0-0 6, Sean Lowry 2-6 0-1 4, Chris Klutinoty 0-2 0-0 0, Jeff Slater 1-4 0-0 3, Aaron Dorondo 0-0 0-0 0, Clark Liebler 0-1 0-0 0, Austin Snodgrass 0-0 2-2 2, Nick Rossmiller 0-1 0-0 0, Jace Lumley 1-1 0-0 3. Totals: 15-38 7-11 41

Altoona 19 12 11 6—48Butler 14 8 14 5—413-point goals: Raymond 2; Pratkanis, Fleeger, Slater, Lumley

JV: Butler, 44-41 (B-Zach Cuffman 8, Austin Snodgrass 8, David Schmidt 8; A-Anthony Lytle 10, Luke Colledge 10)

Thursday: Butler atWest Allegheny