BATH — Points have been a premium for the Freeport High School boys basketball team lately.

Despite a “poor” night shooting, the Falcons found some, receiving points from nine different players while outscoring the Shipbuilders 16-10 in the final quarter to slip past Morse, 58-53, on Monday at Bath Middle School.

“That’s two games in a row that we’ve struggled to score points,” Freeport head coach Bill Ridge said after the Falcons had problems from the field, including a dismal 6-for-35 from behind the arc. “We can’t find guys to put it in the hoop. Our defense is keeping good teams down, but we just haven’t been able to put it in the basket.”

In a four-point loss to Cape Elizabeth on Saturday, the Falcons netted only 31 points and were looking for more Monday night.

The Falcons started quickly — a 3-point basket from Alex Helie and a basket by Gabe Wagner had the visitors with the game’s first five points. Morse junior Gabe Aucoin followed with a trey before a Boden Gould putback tied the game at 5-5. The ’Builders didn’t stop there, scoring the next five points to complete a 10-0 run for a 10-5 lead midway through the opening frame.

Led by Gould’s six rebounds in the first quarter, Morse was able to take advantage of Freeport’s 2-for-12 from behind the arc to start. But a late three by Cameron Strong and hoop by Wagner left the Falcons only down a one point, 16-15 after one frame.

Another trey from Strong gave the Falcons a 24-18 lead with 5:47 on the clock. A steal and a layup from Morse’s Tommy Guild brought his team within two, however baskets from Tre Morris and Wagner pushed the Freeport lead to its largest advantage, 29-22 late in the half.

Freeport, which travels to Waynflete next Monday, carried a 30-26 lead heading into the locker room. Wagner, Helie and Strong each had six points, while sophomore Colby Arsenault added five. Wagner also grabbed seven rebounds in the half. Morse was led by Aucoin’s 12 points after netting eight in the first quarter, while Lucas Ouimette chipped in with five points. Gould finished with eight boards.

Second half action

A determined Morse team came out of the locker room in the second half, scoring the first six points to take the lead, 32-30.

“I didn’t say anything,” Morse coach Tom Maines said when asked about his halftime talk. “We made a few changes, but you see, these kids aren’t used to winning, they need to learn how to win. It’s my function through practice and various things to show them what they are capable of doing. They worked hard tonight.”

Freeport regained the lead (38-32) with a three from Heath Cockburn and baskets from Morris and Liam Holt, but back-to-back 3-pointers from Aucoin tied the score with two minutes remaining in the the third quarter.

Following a Freeport basket, Morse’s Elliot Dorr sank a trey for a one-point lead before the Falcons took it back on a Morris basket. Ouimette capped his six-point third quarter effort with a layup with seven seconds left to give the home team a 43-42 lead after three quarters.

“I am pleased the way Lucas came off the bench, and of course Gabe and Brogan (Shaw) have been our leaders.” Maines said.

Cockburn opened the fourth quarter with his second three to give the Falcons the lead once again. A Shaw basket tied the game, but a 6-0 Freeport run pushed the Falcon advantage to 51-45 midway through the fourth. Arsenault extended the Freeport lead with two big offensive rebounds with putbacks the next two times down the court for a 55-47 lead.

“Colby’s had a couple of big games for us. We’ve been battling sickness and injuries and he’s stepped up for us,” Ridge said. “He’s been one of our most important guys the last three games.”

“I’ve got to keep my head straight, work on the little things that help me with the bigger overall (picture),” Arsenault said. “Trying to get people worked into the offense and stay in the game, as I said, it’s the little things. We’ve been working on boxing out and positioning in practice.”

Morse made it interesting late. With a little over two minutes remaining, Aucoin had three steals on three consecutive defensive trips down the court, resulting in six unanswered points as the Shipbuilders trailed, 56-53.

“We were just trying to come back, give 100% effort,” Aucoin said. “We’ve been working on our defense and inside game this past week in practice, putting in the effort and we got the results.”

But that was as close as the hosts were able to get, and a pair of free throws from the Falcons sealed the victory on the road.

Arsenault and Wagner led the Falcons with 10 points apiece. Morris and Strong each netted eight, while Holt had seven, and Heile and Cockburn split 12 down the middle. Wagner grabbed 10 rebounds and Arsenault hauled in eight.

“Teams have been focusing on Gabe, so we’ve been ready to get others involved in the offense,” Ridge said about the spreading of the scoring.

For Morse, Aucoin led all scorers with 22 points, followed by Ouimette’s 14. Shaw chipped in with eight points, while Gould finished with 13 boards.

“I’m proud of these kids,” Maines said. “They’re coming together, it takes time. We’re four games into it, and we’ve changed the lineup four times.”

Aucoin gave kudos to Freeport, but was already looking ahead to Morse’s next opponent. Morse travels to Biddeford on Friday for a 7 p.m. tipoff.

“They’re a great team, but we’ll take that momentum we got when coming back on to Biddeford,” the junior captain said.

Freeport 58, Morse 53

At Morse

Freeport — 15 15 12 16 — 58

Morse — 16 10 17 10 — 53

Freeport — Blaine Cockburn 1-0-2, Gabe Wagner 4-2-10, Liam Holt 3-0-7, Tre Morris 3-2-8, Heath Cockburn 2-0-6, Adam Ulrickson 0-0-0, Harrison Bowen 0-0-0, Danny Casale 0-0-0, Cam Strong 2-2-8, Alex Helie 2-1-6, Colby Arsenault 4-1-10, Jackson Carr 0-0-0, Elias Thomas 0-1-1. Totals — 21-9-58.

Morse — Dylan Orr 0-0-0, Tommy Guild 1-0-2, Brogan Shaw 4-0-8, Josh Maycock 0-0-0, Elliot Dorr 1-0-3, Lucas Ouimette 7-0-14, Josh Johnson 0-0-0, Gabe Aucoin 7-5-22, Sawyer Stead 0-0-0, Jansen Morrison 0-0-0, Boden Gould 2-0-4. Totals — 22-5-53.

3-point baskets — (F) Holt, Heath Cockburn 2, Strong 2, Helie, Arsenault, (Mo) Dorr, Aucoin 3.

Records — Freeport 3-1, Morse 1-3.

Up next for the Falcons — Monday at Waynflete, 7 p.m.

Up next for the Shipbuilders — Friday at Biddeford, 7 p.m.

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