A bounce of the basketball with the final horn sounding in the background determined the outcome of Northwestern Lehigh’s boys basketball game at Salisbury Thursday night.

A last second three-point shot by Salisbury’s Quintin Stephens - who had already nailed a trio of three-pointers in the game - bounced off the far side of the rim and harmlessly past the basket. Had things gone differently, the shot would have put the Falcons into the win column. Instead, Northwestern got out of Salisbury Township with a 40-38 Colonial League win.

Just: 24 before the final shot, Stephens had drained a three-pointer to bring Salisbury to within two points. Northwestern turned the ball over, giving the Falcons their final shot at a win.

“We only had one team foul, so we were trying to foul as much as we could,” said Northwestern coach Jerry Lloyd. “We were in a two-three zone, so there’s a chance of giving up the three.

“We just tried to contest as best we could. We did a good job, but you’re just holding your breath when it goes up.”

In the first minute of the game, Salisbury went up 4-0, leading Lloyd to call an early timeout because his team had quickly abandoned the game plan that they had heading into the game. After a fiery timeout, Northwestern returned to the floor.

The Tigers, who fell behind by as many as seven points in the quarter, used a 9-0 run to take a lead with 1:43 left. Daniel Scialla hit for two, and Stephens then drained two foul shots to hand the lead back to Salisbury at 15-13.

A low scoring second quarter saw Salisbury leading 23-21 at halftime.

Salisbury’s Stephens and Kenyo Herrera took over the third quarter and combined for eight points to put the Tigers down 31-24 midway through the quarter. Just as Salisbury had two players take over earlier, Northwestern’s Ethan Lazarus and Andres Garrido scored eight unanswered points to give the Tigers a 32-31 edge going into the final eight minutes of the game.

“We’re just working to find the open guy and we’re coming together, scoring and putting our hearts out on the floor,” said Garrido about finding consistency on offense.

Northwestern stretched its lead to 40-35 with just: 40 to play in the game. As Northwestern used fouling to try to take some time off the clock, Stephens found the open shot for his three-pointer that cut the lead to two. On his game-winning attempt, Stephens found himself open in the corner, but put the shot just long.

“Our defense converts to offense, and it’s working pretty well. We’re 4-1 to start the year [in the Colonial League], so that’s a really good start,” said Garrido.

Lazarus led Northwestern with 13 points. Justin Holmes had eight rebounds for the Tigers

For Salisbury, Stephens had 19 points and seven rebounds.

“We knew it was going to be a battle coming in here tonight, and I’m really proud of these guys,” said Lloyd. “They just got a big win [against Palmerton], and they’re fighting to stay in this thing.”

BATTLE LINES ... The Colonial League is starting to come into focus as far as contenders for the top record. Bangor and Notre Dame both picked up wins Thursday night. The Slaters moved to 4-0, while the Crusaders are now 3-0. The Tigers will get their chance at the CL unbeatens next week, playing Notre Dame and Bangor on back-to-back nights Tuesday and Wednesday.

SHARP SHOOTERS ... Northwestern hit foul shots down the stretch to help its cause. Overall, the Tigers hit 8-of-11 from the line against the Falcons. They also limited the free-throw opportunities for Salisbury, who went to the line just three times.

NORTHWESTERN

Fitch 0-0-0-0, Christopher 3-0-0-6, Holmes 0-2-2-2, Henry 1-2-2-4, Witkowski 2-2-3-7, Stitzel 1-0-0-2, Lazarus 6-1-2-13, Garrido 2-1-2-6. TOTALS: 15-8-11-40.

SALISBURY

Artis 2-0-0-5, Scialla 1-0-0-2, Lopez 0-0-0-0, Stephens 7-2-3-19, Fenstermaker 0-0-0-0, Reiman 0-0-0-0, Herrera 3-0-0-6, Warmkessel 3-0-0-6. TOTALS: 16-2-3-38.

Northwestern 13 8 11 8 - 40

Salisbury 15 8 8 7 - 38

Three-pointers: NW - Witkowski 1, Garrido 1; Sal - Stephens 3, Artis 1.