The Pilgrim boys’ basketball team pulled away from Toll Gate in the second half Thursday, outscoring the Titans by 13 en route to a 58-36 victory on senior night.

The Titans were as hot as any team coming in, having won their previous six games. Despite a close first half, Pilgrim, as it has for most of the season, was able to mount a strong second half to cruise to 14-0 in D-III play. 

“I think we’re in good condition, and I think our kids are really determined to succeed,” Pilgrim head coach Mike Batalon said of his team’s ability to catch fire in the second half. “They’re really a self-motivated group, and they realize as the time gets short in the game, they gotta step it up.”

Pilgrim had a comfortable 25-16 lead entering halftime, but came out of it looking to create separation. The Titans weren’t inclined to let it happen, though, as they got within 4 after two free throws from Joe Gasbarro and a 3-pointer from Austin Ouimette. 

The Pats then went on a 13-2 run behind hot shooting from sophomores Matt Woods and Tyrone Weeks. Woods hit an NBA-distance 3-pointer to build the lead back out to 7 before Weeks hit a shot of his own to get the surge going.

“Magnitude of the game was definitely not in our favor,” Toll Gate head coach Tom Rayko said of the second half. “I was hoping we could put a little pressure on them to keep their streak alive. I think we were more focused on trying to beat them and upset that, that we just really tried to push maybe a little too hard at times.”

Woods hit another attempt from beyond the arc and Weeks answered with five consecutive points of his own, including a corner 3 to extend the Pilgrim advantage out to 38-23.

“It was a single-digit game at the half and it could go either way, so it’s important that Tyrone stepped up for us,” Batalon said. “He’s stepped up for us all season, and he did it once again this game.”

Weeks would finish with 21 points, 14 coming in the second half, to go with 10 rebounds, four blocks and three steals. Woods had 13 points with four steals.

Pilgrim easily outpaced the Titans on the boards, outrebounding them 40-21. Toll Gate’s leading rebounder was Ouimette with five. Three Pilgrim players exceeded that, including Weeks, Jadin Genao (8) and Anthony Stevens (7).

“We work on boxing out a lot,” Batalon said. “Just part of our aggressiveness. We always try to play good defense, and defense doesn’t end until we get rebounds, so it’s a point of emphasis for us.”

After Pilgrim had already jumped out to its biggest lead of the night, the divide between the teams kept growing. Ethan Schneider made his only 3-pointer of the second half to keep Toll Gate at bay, 43-27. Pilgrim then got contributions across the board from Stevens, Genao and Brandon Lawton to widen the gap to 58-36 before the final buzzer sounded.

“Tonight we really couldn’t convert on the offensive end,” Rayko said. “A lot of transition plays we weren’t able to convert and that’s definitely not going to help us out.”

The Titans (9-5) struggled to get production outside of Ouimette and guard Austin Giard. Ouimette finished with 14 points to go with his five boards. Gard had nine points, seven coming in the second half, paired with eight steals.

“He’s crazy on defense,” Rayko said of Giard. “He’s a beast on defense. He always comes in and makes plays out of nowhere. That’s one thing that keeps us in a lot of games and it’s helped us win a lot of games.”

Outside of those two, the Titans managed just 13 points. Joel Johnson was the closest to either with four points, three rebounds and four steals.

It was Ouimette who paced the Titans in the first half, scoring nine of their 16 points. The Titans fell behind early, 9-2, but a 7-0 run led by Giard and Ouimette knotted the score at 9.

Then, Weeks got hot. He made a shot on an assist from Lawton, followed by a pair of free throws and a 3-pointer to push the Pats out to a 16-11 lead.

Woods and Schneider got shots of their own to go, putting Pilgrim ahead 20-13 shortly before halftime. Ouimette drilled a long-distance shot to shrink the deficit to 4, but a Genao layup and Stevens 3-pointer sent the Pats into the intermission with a 25-16 lead.

For the senior night occasion, Batalon started all of his seniors for the first few minutes. The group included captains Schneider and Lawton, as well as Stevens, Tyler Perry and Trey Booth. Booth hasn’t had much playing time this season, but he registered a couple of rebounds to help Pilgrim bring down the Titans.

“I’m sure he was excited,” Batalon said of Booth.

Despite the loss, the Titans are in solid position for high playoff spot. They are tied with Moses Brown for the fourth-best record in D-III, though Toll Gate defeated the Quakers in their only tilt this season. The Titans have two games left to go, starting with Chariho (11-2) at home at 7 p.m. on Tuesday. Toll Gate will then take to the road to face Warwick Vets (6-8) in what could be the last game ever played on the ‘Canes’ floor.

“We still got two tough games to end out the season, so we’ve got to look at those first before we look at playoffs,” Rayko said. “Chariho’s a tough team, I would at least like to have a good showing against Chariho. They beat us pretty good in their gym. The Vets game, I think, will be a game like this; pretty much the last time Vets is going to be in that gym. I think it’ll be a crazy game.”

The Pats also have two games remaining in their quest to lock up the No. 1 seed. Pilgrim will play both matchups on the road, going to Vets Wednesday night at 7 p.m. before closing out the regular season at 7 p.m. the next evening at Chariho.

Pilgrim sits one game in front of Johnston (13-1) for the top seed in the playoffs, but the Pats beat the Panthers in their only meeting earlier in the season.

“It sounds like a cliché but we just try to take one game at a time,” Batalon said. “That’s what we’ve done all season. We look at the standings, but we’re focused on our own team, what we can do.”