For a while, the Pilgrim boys’ basketball team used crafty shooting and stalwart defense to keep pace with Division I East Providence on Tuesday night at home.

The Townies wore the Pats down inside, though, and used an 11-0 run to separate themselves down the stretch for a 61-43 non-league victory. Zach Johnson, who stands in at 6-foot-5, was Pilgrim’s main rebounder with eight boards. No other Pilgrim player had more than two.

The Pats trailed 31-23 at the half despite missing guard Jake Gonsalves with an injury. A balanced scoring attack kept it close, as Matt Woods, Jadin Genao and Jadin Cabegeiras each posted five points in the opening 16 minutes.

“I saw some D-II teams this summer, and for the past few years we’ve been hanging in D-III,” Pilgrim head coach Chris LeBlanc said. “I told the kids when we played Lincoln [during Injury Fund], I thought we played D-III style. We need to pick it up. Today, we picked up a little. Without Jake, it’s a little bit of a hindrance but we’re OK. I was trying to get my kids to play together.”

Despite some effective shooting early on and a full-court press that caused some chaos, East Providence was able to find inlet passes down low. Deyshawn Tengbeh manufactured eight points from his work in the post, while Kyerstan Casey hit two crucial 3-pointers in the first half while Pilgrim was preoccupied with the bigs.

Still, Pilgrim was able to hang tight early in the second half. James Baldwin found twine with a layup to cut the deficit to six and a Nate Ferri 3-pointer on the next possession got the Pats closer, 33-28.

Then, the Pats went cold from the field and East Providence took advantage. Casey nailed his only make of the second half to kick off an 11-0 run that put Pilgrim away for good. Dion Hazard followed with a 3-pointer before field goals from David Ogunronbi and Quinton Osbourne.

Pilgrim played catch-up from there and both sides gave their reserves some playing time, but Johnson was a still a force on the backboard. His size will be an advantage for Pilgrim as it takes on the more physical competition of Division II.

“We’re going to need his size and his bulk,” LeBlanc said of Johnson. “There’s some big dudes out there and he’s going to need to be able to hold his own out there. He did a good job. He’s in good shape, he’s hustling those kids down late in the game.”

The home side returned almost every East Providence punch for the first 24 minutes, even without a top scorer and with myriad turnovers and rebounding issues. The fight showed that it can tangle with just about any squad from D-II.

Pilgrim, after all, brings back six starters from three different D-III schools. Woods and Johnson suited up for Pilgrim last year, and Baldwin, Gonsalves and Ferri laced up their sneakers for Warwick Vets. Cabegeiras got first-team minutes for Masters Regional Academy as well.

“We’ve been playing for two weeks, and come mid-January we’re going to be really good,” LeBlanc said. “Right now, we’re trying to get things together. New offense, new coach, new players. We’re coming around, I think. Practices are good, they’re competitive.”

Starting tomorrow, the Pats will have to rebound quickly from the lopsided defeat. They will play four games in a one-week span beginning with a trip to Cumberland (7-10 in 2015-16) at 7 p.m.

Pilgrim then heads to East Greenwich (11-6) and Exeter/West Greenwich (10-7) before returning home Dec. 23 to take on Rogers (8-9). All of those contests tip off at 7 p.m.

The Pats should be battle-tested enough for the challenge after losses to Lincoln and East Providence, which both carry an element of size and athleticism that they rarely saw in D-III.

“I need to get my bigs to play big,” LeBlanc said. “Like I said, the past three years, all these kids have been seeing are D-III schools. We need to step it up there, and we just need a little bit of time.”