ALTOONA — Butler and Altoona traded punches all night, as each looked to land a knockout punch.

With 1:10 remaining, Joaquin Osimani delivered it.

Altoona's 6-foot-4 senior guard, an exchange student from Uruguay, sank a 3-pointer to give the Mountain Lions a 54-52 lead. The shot marked the 17th and final lead change of the game and keyed a 62-56 boys basketball win over the Golden Tornado Tuesday.

Neither team ever held a double-digit lead in the contest. Osimani's trey came seconds after Alan Jackson completed a three-point play at the other end to give Butler the lead.

"That 3 (by Osimani) was the shot of the game," Butler coach Joe Lewandowski said. "We had a hand in his face and the kid buried it anyway. He's just a phenomenal player."

Osimani led Altoona (2-1) with 24 points and five rebounds. His older brother, Martin, played point guard at Duquesne University for two years.

"He's a tremendous talent and he's clearly going to help us," Altoona coach Kraig Hetz said.

Jackson didn't do too badly in his own right for Butler. Seeing his first action of the season, the senior guard came off the bench to score 22 points, sinking nine of 11 shots from the floor.

Jackson repeatedly scored by driving to the basket.

"He didn't play in their first two games, so we were unaware of him," Hetz said. "And we couldn't stop him."

Jackson had three assists to go with his scoring production.

"Alan is an excellent offensive player," Lewandowski said. "He's a good shooter, too, so teams really don't know how to guard him."

The Tornado's biggest lead of the night was 23-14 with 6:05 left in the first half. Senior point guard Blake Anderson sank a trey and a jumper on consecutive possessions to give Butler that edge.

Anderson finished with 15 points and three steals.

"Blake's adjusting to his role this year, which is handling the ball and being a scorer for us," Lewandowski said.

Ultimately, Altoona put the game away at the foul line. The Mountain Lions sank eight of 10 free throws in the final 49 seconds after Osimani's trey gave them the lead.

Junior guard Jesse Betar made two free throws each with 49 seconds, 25 seconds and 12.2 seconds left. He scored 11 points.

"He's the guy we want at the line in those situations and he came through," Hetz said.

Altoona held a 27-25 rebounding edge, though Butler's Jade Burka led all players with 11 rebounds. The Tornado (1-2) turned the ball over 18 times, including seven times in the fourth quarter.

"This was a two-point game with a minute to go, and that's seven opportunities to score that we gave away," Lewandowski said. "You can't afford to do that.

"Still, this game was good for us because we were able to have our kids experience making plays in pressure situations. That's why we play the tough schedule early. This is the type of game our section games are going to be like."

Notes:

Altoona's biggest lead was 61-53 with 12 seconds left. … The lead changed hands seven times in the second quarter alone. … Sophomore Cody Fleeger had six rebounds for Butler. … Altoona was 12-12 last season and has won 35 District 6 titles, reached eight Western Finals and been to the state finals four times in its 92-year basketball history. The Mountain Lions last reached the Western Final in 2002-03. Altoona has never won a state championship.

BUTLER 56

Cody Fleeger 2-5 0-0 4, Nick Martini 2-3 0-0 5, Adam Monday 2-5 0-0 6, Alan Jackson 9-11 4-6 22, Blake Anderson 5-13 2-2 15, Jade Burka 2-7 0-1 4, Aaron Dorondo 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 22-45 6-9 56

ALTOONA 62

Joaquim Osimani 8-19 5-7 24, Matt Dukery 0-1 0-0 0, Jesse Betar 2-5 6-6 11, D.J. Patterson 3-5 2-3 9, Denwood Howard 2-7 1-2 5, Alphonso Lewis 1-1 0-0 2, Zach Cochran 0-1 0-0 0, Matt Gehert 1-1 0-0 2, Quentyn Ferguson 4-8 0-0 9. Totals: 21-48 14-18 62

3-point goals:

Martini, Monday 2, Anderson 3; Osimani 3, Betar, Patterson, Ferguson

JV:

Altoona, 34-33 (B-Nick Rossmiller 7, A-Alphonso Lewis 9)

Thursday:

Central Catholic @ Butler