DEXTER – Trailing by four points at halftime Thursday night, the unbeaten Dexter boys basketball team was a bit frustrated as it tried to cope with Penquis of Milo’s tenacious yet patient play.

So the Tigers regrouped, used their defense to accelerate the game, and pulled away in the fourth quarter to earn a 44-37 victory at Guiski Gym.

“That was the halftime discussion tonight, that this game was going to test our mental toughness,” said Dexter coach Peter Murray. “We cracked a little in the first half, but I thought we were really mentally tough in the second half. We didn’t let any outside stuff influence us. We just played tough, gutted it out and found a way to win.”

Dexter, 8-0 and ranked No. 1 in Eastern Maine Class C, struggled at the offensive end early against Penquis’ 2-3 zone, and trailed 22-18 at the break. But the Tigers extended their man-to-man defense after intermission, and that served to boost the team’s overall energy level.

“We figured we had to do something to try to change the tempo of the game,” said Murray. “We’re not what I call a normal pressing team, but we can put a lot of pressure on the ball when we want to, and the kids did a real nice job. I really think that kind of turned the momentum of the game a little bit.”

Senior forward Mark Pullen and senior guard Sam Bowers combined for 11 points in the third quarter as Dexter grabbed the lead, and with Penquis star Jordan Allen sidelined with four fouls, the Tigers went on a decisive 7-0 run to take a 35-30 lead with 6:10 left in the contest.

Allen returned after sitting out five minutes and immediately scored after stealing the ball to cut the gap to three. But good defensive work by Matt Murray and Eric Day soon induced Allen to commit a player-control foul that ended his night with 2:57 left. Murray followed with a runner to push the lead back to five with 2:28 to play, and Bowers made six of seven free throws to secure the win.

“We know they’re going to try to slow the game down, and we want it uptempo,” said Matt Murray, a senior forward. “In the first half we were a little tentative. In the second half we just tried to attack and create some things, and shots were falling and we stepped it up on defense.”

Bowers finished with 12 points and Pullen 10 to pace Dexter offensively. Seniors Chris Rabideau (six rebounds) and Tim McCarthy contributed strong interior work, while Murray and Day helped the Tigers maintain their perimeter defensive intensity throughout the second half.

Senior forward Devin Perkins scored 10 points and Allen nine for 6-2 Penquis, which entered the week ranked third in Eastern C. The Patriots were hindered by 20 turnovers, as well as a 6-for-13 effort from the free-throw line.

“They hurt us when they extended their man [defense],” said Penquis coach Tony Hamlin. “They switch on everything defensively, so you’ve got to come back off a screen and we didn’t do a lot of that.. But even with that, if Jordan hadn’t fouled out and we made some foul shots we would have been there at the end. I’m not sure we would have won, because that’s as good a team as we’ll face.”

TIGERS 44, PATRIOTS 37

Penquis (6-2) Dexter (8-0)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

J. Allen 3 7 2 4 9 Day 0 5 1

Andrews 0 0 0 0 0 Murray 2 6 6

Creighton 0 2 1 2 1 Pullen 3 4 10

Perkins 4 6 0 2 10 Bowers 3 3 12

Salley 2 2 0 0 4 Rabideau 1 4

Carey 0 1 0 2 0 Martin 2 5 6

Landry 0 1 0 0 0 McCarthy 2 5

Morrill 1 3 3 3 5

Zwicker 2 4 0 0 6

N. Allen 1 2 0 0 2

Totals 13 28 6 13 37 Totals 13 32 16 26 44

Penquis 11 22 30 37

Dexter 12 18 32 44

3-pt. goals – Penquis (5-8): Perkins 2-2, Zwicker 2-4, J. Allen 1-2; Dexter (2-12): Martin 1-4, Murray 1-5, Day 0-3

JV: Dexter 59-36

Attendance: 500 (est)