BIDDEFORD — Whatever Biddeford boys basketball coach Mike Fecteau said to his team at halftime, it worked. The Tiger defense clamped down and held Massabesic to just 12 second half points en route to a 49-37 victory at Tiger Gymnasium on Tuesday night.

“I think I got my point (across) at the half,” said Fecteau, whose team trailed 25-23 at the half.

The Tigers opened the third quarter on a 7-0 run to take a lead they wouldn’t surrender. And on the defensive side, the Tigers held Massabesic to just three points in the quarter.

It was a stark contrast to how Biddeford looked in the first half, when the Tigers struggled to make shots. However, the Tigers stuck around, and Fecteau said that gave them a chance.

“As bad as we played in the first half, we were still right in the game,” said Fecteau. “Then in the second half, we hit some big baskets there in the third quarter.”

Massabesic looked like the team in control at the start, as the Mustangs jumped out to a 6-0 lead. Massabesic head coach Ramone Jones said he wants his team to own the first three or four minutes of the game, and they did. Cale Thornton and Bryson Murray took advantage of their size down low, and Biddeford couldn’t keep up with the quickness of guards Casey Nava and Jake Desrochers.

But Massabesic wasn’t able to sustain its early momentum, and Biddeford finished off the first quarter on a 6-0 run to take a 14-13 lead.

Massabesic took back the lead in the second quarter, as Nava hit a couple big shots, and Noah Gerry scored five points off the bench.

“We were doing a lot of the right things we wanted to do, we just couldn’t carry that over into the second half,” said Jones.

The Mustangs went cold in the third quarter, as evidenced by the three points scored. Jones said there were multiple contributions to the team’s ineptitude.

“We ran a little bit out of gas. We weren’t as aggressive. And we didn’t get as many easier looks as we did in the first half,” said Jones. ““We missed a few shots that we made in the first half. And then we turned it over a couple times. It was just untimely turnovers.”

Biddeford was able to take advantage of those turnovers, as the Tigers caught Massabesic out of position in transition, leading to easy buckets or trips to the free throw line.

The Tigers were bolstered in the second half by the play inside of Matt Cote, who scored six of his game-high 10 points in the second half, to go along with 10 rebounds.

Fecteau said “it was a quiet 10 points” for Cote, who scored on some put-backs.

Cam Nadeau also scored 10 points for Biddeford, although it was an off night by his and Fecteau’s standards.

Nava led Massabesic with nine points, but just two in the second half. No Mustang made more than one shot in the second half.

Fecteau said he wasn’t overly impressed with his team’s performance, especially in the first half. He said the shot selection was bad, and that he expected more out of a senior-laden team.

But still, as Fecteau simply put, “it’s a win.”

The Tigers evened their record to 2-2, and will face Westbrook on Friday.

Massabesic is still looking for its first win of the season, and will look to get it at home against Thornton Academy on Friday night.

— Contact Wil Kramlich at 282-1535, Ext. 323 or follow him on Twitter @WilTalkSports.