The game of basketball came down to a matter of math by addition Wednesday night, as Salisbury’s proficiency from beyond the arc proved too much for Northern Lehigh in a 59-43 Colonial League victory.

The Falcons scored more than half of their points — 33 in all — on 3-pointers, a deficit the Bulldogs could not overcome.

“We knew they were an excellent 3-point shooting team,” Northern Lehigh coach Jake Waylen said. “We tried to extend our zone to contest their shots and then we switched to a man defense, but they were still able to find the open man for the long shot.”

Northern Lehigh never led, but stayed within striking distance until the start of the third quarter, trailing just 37-31. From there, Salisbury pulled away by outscoring the Bulldogs 22-12 the rest of the way.

Right from the opening minutes, the Falcons found their rhythm from long range. Treys by Steven Lozada and Drew Petrie, along with two more from Garrett Leiner, gave Salisbury a 12-3 lead midway through the first quarter.

The Bulldogs answered with a strong response, scoring seven of the game’s next eight points. Kellen Bauer completed a 3-point play, Michael Bauer scored on a driving layup, and Coy Daubert buried a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to three by the end of the quarter.

Northern Lehigh’s offense went cold in the second period, however, and didn’t score until Kellen Bauer stole a pass and went coast-to-coast for a layup with 3:30 remaining before halftime. Meanwhile, Salisbury went on an eight-point run to stretch its lead to 21-10, highlighted by two 3-pointers from Leiner, one from Petrie and a driving layup by Lozada.

Down nine at halftime, the Bulldogs briefly made a push in the third quarter when Bauer knocked down a 3-pointer to pull Northern Lehigh within six. It would be as close as the Bulldogs would get.

“At the end of the day, there’s not a lot that separates us from a very good team like Salisbury,” Waylen said. “We have some things to work on to be more competitive on both ends of the court. We need to set better screens, and use our backdoor cuts. Defensively, we have to extend our zone to the wings and close out on the long balls. We also need to rebound better, and be more physical to make opponents work harder for their shots.”

Waylen said he wants his team to continue playing at an up-tempo pace.

“Our strength is our transition game, and moving fast from defense to offense,” he said. “We don’t play a lot of guys, but our starters are in really good shape, so running the court isn’t a problem.”

Lozada led Salisbury with 18 points, while Leiner added 12. Bauer paced Northern Lehigh with a game-high 20 points. Daubert finished with nine points, all coming on 3-pointers.

THE GAME CHANGER … After the Bulldogs trimmed Salisbury’s lead to 27-21 early in the third quarter, the Falcons outscored the hosts 32-22 the rest of the way.

AROUND THE ARC … Salisbury connected from all areas beyond the 3-point line, hitting shots from both wings, the top of the key and each baseline.

UP NEXT … Northern Lehigh travels to Palisades on Friday night for another Colonial League matchup.

SALISBURY

Lozada 7-0-0-18, Leiner 4-1-1-12, Petrie 4-1-1-11, Gonzalez 2-1-2-7, Makoul 3-1-1-7, Smarch 2-0-0-4, Muth 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 22-4-5-59.

NORTHERN LEHIGH

K. Bauer 8-4-6-20, Daubert 3-0-0-9, Schaffer 2-0-0-6, M. Bauer 1-2-2-4, LoPinto 1-0-0-2, Karetsky 1-0-0-2. TOTALS: 16-6-8-43.

Salisbury 13 14 13 19 — 59

N. Lehigh 10 8 11 14 — 43

Three-pointers: Salisbury — Lozada 4, Leiner 3, Gonzalez 2, Petrie 2. Northern Lehigh — Daubert 3, Schaffer 2.

Records: Salisbury 6-1; Northern Lehigh 3-5.