DEXTER -- The Dexter Bearcats went on the attack early, but Charleston pulled it together late for a 51-46 victory Tuesday at the Bearcat Event Center.
The Bearcats led by as many as 11 points in the first half of the SEMO Conference matchup before Charleston rallied in the fourth quarter to earn its first win of the season.
Dexter coach Lloyd Hyten wasn't too disappointed with the loss.
"Before the game started, if you had told me we would be this close at the end, I probably would've taken that," Hyten said, "but as the game (progressed), I was thinking we were going to win. It went pretty good till we just kind of ran out of gas."
The first-year coach said that expectations for this year's team are low after losing five seniors from an 18-12 team.
"If they give that effort every game, game in and game out, that's all you can ask for as a coach," Hyten said. "They played extremely hard (and had a) lot of energy."
The Bearcats turned the ball over seven times in the final three to four minutes of the game.
"We had to speed it up," Charleston coach Danny Farmer said of applying full-court pressure late. "We were behind. I was pleased we kept (our) composure throughout the game. ... I was proud of them for that."
Samuel Bledsoe and Preston Moore made back-to-back 3-pointers, trimming Dexter's lead to 45-44.
Seth Rogers made a free throw with 2:08 to play before the Blue Jays ended the game with 7-0 run.
Javontrey Wiley's 3-pointer with 1:15 to play put the Blue Jays ahead to stay, Isaiah Gillespie made a floater in the lane, and Terridean Bogan sank two free throws with 18.7 seconds left to seal the win.
"We were struggling shooting the ball," Farmer said. "We hit the ones at the right time to get us right back in the game. We hit some crucial free throws, also."
Rogers scored six of his game-high 18 points in the first quarter where the Bearcats built an 11-7 lead. Charleston (1-2, 1-0 SEMO) held leads of 2-0 and 6-5 before the Bearcats closed the period with a 6-1 run.
The Bearcats (0-1) extended their lead to as many as 11 in the second quarter. Andrew Ellinghouse sank a 3-pointer to give Dexter a 24-13 lead. Ellinghouse scored all 13 of his points in the first half.
"Offensively, we had a lot of movement," Hyten said of his team's strong start. "The first half we were doing a lot of cutting to the basket and getting some easy baskets. Then it seemed like everybody just kind of gave out a little bit. We didn't have that too much the last half. We didn't have that drive toward the basket that we did the first part of the game."
Blessin Kimble helped the Blue Jays get on track in the second quarter. He made three straight baskets inside to cut Dexter's lead to 19-13. Kimble finished with a team-high 13 points.
The Bearcats led 26-20 at halftime.
Charleston cut its deficit to two points twice late in the third quarter. The second of three 3-pointers by Bledsoe sliced the Bearcats' lead to 36-34, and Latrell Porter converted a Dexter turnover into a layup to cut the deficit to 38-36 by the start of the final quarter.
Bledsoe finished with nine points, and Porter had eight.
Rogers and Braxton Foster helped the Bearcats push their lead to 45-38 with 2:59 left in the game. Rogers made five of nine free throws in the fourth, and Foster scored three of his seven points in the final quarter.
The teams combined for 39 fouls with Charleston committing 21. Porter was the only player to foul out, though. He exited the game with 2:59 remaining.
"We know it's going to be a tough game every time we play them," Farmer said. "It's a tough, rugged game. We knew that. We just had to hang in."
Two Dexter players -- Rogers and Henson -- finished with four fouls apiece.
"We were in foul trouble early. That hurt us," Hyten said. "Henson was out basically the whole second quarter. Foster was in foul trouble. We've just got to clean some things up. Didn't block out real well. We got fouls trying to block their shots. Of course, they are big and athletic, so that didn't work out so well."
Eight Bearcats played Tuesday night, and six of them competed in all four quarters.
"I thought everybody that went in the game gave us good minutes," Hyten said. "Logan Wyman's not a very big kid, but I tell you he played strong underneath. He got some rebounds, drew a charge, I think. Overall, I'm not too disappointed. I think again if we play with that intensity and that energy, we'll surprise some people."
Charleston won the junior varsity game 47-42 in overtime. Peyton Driskill paced Dexter with 12 points, and Jackson Allen had nine.