NEW CASTLE — Saturday night may have been a typical Butler-New Castle boys basketball game.

It was definitely not typical Butler — at least so far this season.

The Golden Tornado, struggling to produce offense most of the year, nearly wiped out a 13-point deficit in the final two minutes and surrendered a season-high 64 points in a 64-59 loss on the Red Hurricanes' floor.

"They have athletes and they get to the basket really well,"Butler coach Joe Lewandowski said. "We had trouble slowing them down."

"We've got some quick guards who provide match-up problems when we get the ball in their hands,"New Castle coach Mark Stanley said.

The 'Canes could not match up with Butler sophomore center Bobby Swartwout in the first quarter. With New Castle big men Rodney Parchman and Stephen Richardson sitting out the first period because of a violation of team rules, Swartwout scored 10 points in the first eight minutes.

He completed a pair of three-point plays during a 12-0 Tornado run that gave the visitors an early 14-4 lead.

"We've been working on finishing plays underneath when there's contact,"Lewandowski said. "Bobby's an extremely coachable kid and he's improved a lot in that area.

"He knows we're counting on him to score points down low. He's only a sophomore, yet he's responding to that expectation and that's impressive."

When Parchman and Richardson entered the game in the second quarter, they doubled down on Swartwout and limited him to two free throws in the middle two periods.

In the meantime, New Castle recovered to take a 40-33 lead into the fourth quarter. The 'Canes outscored Butler (5-6) 16-5 in the third period.

"Ultimately, we lost this game in the third quarter,"Lewandowski said. "We're still having that one quarter where we struggle to get points and that puts added pressure on our defense."

When Parchman converted a three-point play with 2:19 to play and added a pair of free throws with 1:57 on the clock, New Castle (6-5) had a 57-44 lead and the issue appeared to be decided.

Enter Eric King.

The 5-foot-8 senior guard hit a pair of treys to pull Butler within 59-50 with 1:19 remaining. A steal resulted in a Logan Renwick layup with 1:08 on the clock. Another steal produced a Swartwout layup and it was 59-54 with 55.2 seconds to go.

"Their pressure got us flustered, no question,"Stanley said. "We've been having problems handling fullcourt pressure this year.

"Butler did everything it had to do to keep itself in the game."

Nick Klein slowed the surge with a pair of free throws, but King completed a three-point play with 32.6 seconds left and the Tornado was within 61-57.

Butler drew no closer, however, as Tyrone Steals sank two free throws with 28.9 seconds left and Tonio Fulena added ome with 14 seconds to play.

King scored all 13 of his points in the fourth quarter. New Castle sank 12 of 14 free throws in the final period while Butler hit just four of 10.

"To complete a comeback like that, you need to make free throws," Lewandowski said. "To secure victory, you need to make free throws. They did and we didn't.

"Eric King provides us defense and energy off the bench. Tonight, he provided us points. We spread the floor and he thrived. He only missed one shot. What more can you ask?"

Swartwout led Butler with 20 points and had four steals. Logan Renwick had four assists and David Schmidt three steals. Brian Jendesky, Jeff Tompkins and Nate Snodgrass all had five rebounds.

Steals had 15 points and five rebounds for New Castle with Parchman adding 15 points and four boards. Richardson had eight points and six rebounds.

The 'Canes, now in Class AAA, are 3-0 against their former Class AAAA section foes, having defeated North Allegheny, Pine-Richland and Butler.

"Yeah, but section games are always different in terms of intensity,"Stanley said. "We enjoy playing Butler because it's always a highly competitive game.

"That program pushes you. We're looking to play them on their court next year."

BUTLER59Cole Harvey 1-4 1-2 3, Eric King 5-6 1-1 13, Brian Jendesky 3-6 1-1 7, Logan Renwick 1-4 1-3 3, Jeff Tompkins 1-4 0-2 2, Nate Snodgrass 2-4 0-0 4, Vinny Schmidt 2-2 0-0 5, David Schmidt 1-2 0-2 2, Bobby Swartwout 7-10 6-6 20. Totals: 23-42 10-17 59

NEWCASTLE64Tyrone Steals 5-12 5-7 15, Cory Eggleston 1-4 1-1 3, Mike Cox 2-3 0-0 4, Mike Bongivengo 1-2 0-0 2, JaJuan Jay 0-1 0-0 0, Jordan Gentsy 2-3 0-0 5, Nick Klein 2-4 3-3 8, Tonio Fulena 1-7 2-3 4, Rodney Parchman 5-10 4-5 15, Stepghen Richardson 4-5 0-1 8. Totals: 23-51 15-20 64

Butler 16 12 5 26—59New Castle 11 13 16 24—643-point goals: King 2, V. Schmidt; Gentsy, Klein, Parchman

JV: Butler, 50-42 (B:Bill Smith 17, Vinny Schmidt 16; NC:JaJuan Jay 22)

Tuesday: Fox Chapel at Butler