NORTHAMPTON - The comeback effort was huge.

Unfortunately, so was the second-half deficit.

Northwestern dug itself a 16-point hole against Notre Dame in Wednesday’s Colonial League semifinal at Catasauqua. And while the Tigers scratched and clawed their way back, whittling the margin to just two, it wasn’t quite enough as the Crusaders hung on for an eventual 64-59 victory.

The win sends top-ranked Notre Dame into Friday’s CL final against second-seeded Palmerton.

“You can’t spot a team like Notre Dame 10 points at the half and then consistently be in it at the end,” said Northwestern head coach Pat Wanamaker, whose club trailed 31-21 at the break before the margin reached 51-35 late in the third quarter. “We were actually shocked that they allowed us back in it, but our kids played really, really hard. They grind and they battle. I said to them after the game the effort has never been the question, but the execution tonight was a little bit of the issue.

“At the end of the third quarter, I told them we’ve got to get it to eight, get it to six. We’re not going to hit a 10-point shot or a 12-point shot. The kids responded and they did everything they needed to do, and they did it really well. We just ran out of time.”

Down 16, the Tigers got a layup from Eli Zimmerman and a driving basket by Gavin Nelson in the final 25 seconds of the third to pull within 12 entering the final frame.

That’s when fourth-seeded Northwestern continued to peck away at the margin. Another Zimmerman basket, a Shane Marth put-back and a pair of free throws from Nelson aided an 8-2 run that trimmed the gap to just six at 53-47.

“We made our mistakes ... We missed a lot of foul shots,” said Crusader mentor Pat Boyle. “At the end of the third quarter, I thought we had a chance to put the game away, but we missed layups and they got layups at the other end.

“We haven’t been in that many situations where we had an eight-point lead with three minutes left and had to protect the ball. The experience should help us.”

Caleb Hobbie’s layup with 55 seconds left to play helped Notre Dame, as it pushed the lead to eight.

But the never-say-die Tigers got a three-point play from Zimmerman, and a follow-up from Mason Bollinger to make it 61-57 with 17.2 seconds remaining on the clock.

The Crusaders turned the ball over, and then allowed Nelson a free bucket inside knowing Northwestern was out of timeouts and the clock would run out.

Wanamaker, however, did call a timeout knowing it would result in a technical, but it would also stop the clock. Notre Dame’s Isaiah Miles converted the free throws to seal the win.

“Who knows?” said Wanamaker about the result if the game would have lasted a couple minutes longer. “There’s probably 25 plays that could have gone a different bounce here, a different bounce there ... You know, some nights you just get beat. And that’s one thing I say to the kids, the only teams I ever want to lose to are the teams we play. I don’t ever want to lose to us. And so far with this group, we haven’t done that.”

FIRST-HALF ACTION ... Northwestern committed 12 first-half turnovers, which helped Notre Dame gain its 10-point halftime lead. Colin Boyle and Dainn Vassallo each had eight points for the Crusaders during a 21-12 second quarter.

SCORING LEADERS ... Nelson scored a game-high 20 points for the Tigers, while Bollinger ended with 19. “We rely on a lot of different guys to score, so we don’t get too worried if a guy here or there that usually scores for us doesn’t because typically they come around,” said Wanamaker. “But those two guys definitely carried us tonight.” Boyle’s 19 paced Notre Dame, while Vassallo and Cameron Bohn both finished with 12.

UNDEFEATED CL SEASON? ... The Crusaders (21-2) were 18-0 in the league during the regular season and defeated Northwestern on Wednesday. A win against Palmerton on Friday would not only give them a league title, but also a perfect 20-0 record in league action.

SWEET SIXTEEN ... Wednesday’s loss dropped the Tigers to 16-8. They will return to action in the district playoffs. The 16 wins this season are the most by a Northwestern team since 2006-07 when it went 17-10.

NORTHWESTERN

Bollinger 8-2-2-19, E. Zimmerman 3-3-7-9, Wambold 0-3-4-3, Fitch 0-0-0-0, Kozlowski 0-1-2-1, Nelson 8-3-4-20, Marth 3-1-3-7, Tyler 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 22-13-22-59.

NOTRE DAME

Miles 2-2-2-6, Smith 2-0-2-4, Boyle 8-2-4-19, Bohn 4-1-4-12, Vassallo 5-1-3-12, Lessig 0-0-0-0, Hobbie 2-0-0-4, Miklos 0-0-0-0, Darno 3-1-2-7. TOTALS: 26-7-17-64.

Northwestern 9 12 18 20 - 59

Notre Dame 10 21 20 13 - 64

Three-pointers: Northwestern - Bollinger 1, Nelson 1; Notre Dame - Bohn 3, Boyle 1, Vassallo 1.