WELLSTON — It took a while for the engine to warm up, but once it got running it wouldn’t stop.

The St. Joseph Flyers sputtered and stalled early, but shifted gears in the second half as they rallied to beat the Wellston Golden Rockets 56-44 Friday night.

St. Joseph (1-1) trailed most of the game but overtook the Rockets late and kept on running.

“We got the game going up and down more the second half. We came out passive the first half and took some quick shots and they got some easy run-out shots,” said St. Joseph coach Kevin Sheridan.

The Flyers fell behind 12-4 at the end of the first quarter. Caleb Blackburn scored 8 points in the second quarter as the Flyers cut the deficit to 26-22 at the break.

“Caleb got in foul trouble the second half, but he kept us in it the first half,” said Sheridan.

Chad Harvey scored 5 points and David Crossan and Joey Basedow each drained a 3-pointer coming off the bench in the third quarter as St. Joseph got within 35-34.

Crossan had another 3-pointer in the fourth quarter and Pat Gagai hit a 3-pointer that gave the Flyers the lead midway through the fourth quarter.

“We made a couple of shots that allowed us to apply some pressure and get the tempo going up. It was a gutsy effort on the road and against a Division III school,” said Sheridan.

“We got some huge production off the bench from Pat Gagai and David Crossan. Gagai did a lot to trigger what we wanted to do.”

Wellston ws for to foul and the Flyers went 14 of 20 down the stretch. Gagai was 4-of-4, Alex Brown 4-of-6, and Crossan and Basedow 2-of-2 at the line.

Harvey and Crossan scored 12 points each for the Flyers. Blackburn had nine rebounds and four steals. Basedow added five rebounds and three assists.

St. Joseph4181222=56

Wellston121499=44

ST. JOSEPH (1-1): Chad Harvey 3 1 3-8 12, Payton Blair 0 0 0-0 0, David Crossan 2 2 2-2 12, Joey Basedow 1 1 2-2 7, Pat Gagai 0 1 5-6 8, Alex Brown 1 0 6-8 8, Caleb Blackburn 1 0 7-8 9. Totals: 13-33 25-35 56. 3-point goals: 5-9. Fouls: 23. Fouled out: Blackburn. Rebounds: 24 (Blackburn 9, Basedow 5, Harvey 4). Assists: 6 (Basedow 3). Steals: 10 (Blackburn 4). Turnovers: 19.

WELLSTON (1-2): Jeff Matteson 2 2 4-6 14, Matt Delacruz 2 0 4-8 8, Ed Jackson 0 0 0-0 0, Tyler King 1 0 0-0 2, Cody Wilkett 1 0 1-2 3, Andy Derrow 0 0 2-2 2, Justin Lackey 0 0 0-0 0, Steve Cales 4 0 3-5 11, Ryan Darnell 1 0 0-1 2, Justin Barber 1 0 0-0 2. Totals: 12 2 14-25 44. Fouls: 24. Fouled out: Derrow, Darnell.