Friday night’s contest between Northwestern and Notre Dame Green Pond very well could have been a preview of the Colonial League championship game.

And in a packed gym in New Tripoli, the game had a playoff-type feel to it.

The Tigers and Crusaders battled back-and-forth for four quarters, but a few key late stops by Notre Dame with the game on the line helped it to escape with a 72-70 victory.

“It was a great game tonight. Just thrilled for our guys to get this win,” said Crusader coach Pat Boyle. “I’m a big believer in looking at how a team responds when things don’t go your way. And I thought our guys did a great job of responding and then making key plays late to help us win the game.”

This one came down to the wire and it was close throughout. Notre Dame held a one-point lead after the first and Northwestern got hot in the second to lead by three at the half.

Tommy Murphy, who had a good night distributing the ball, got the Crusaders’ offense going in the first hitting three three-pointers. Notre Dame, which came into the game with 76 threes, hit five in the first quarter.

The Crusaders’ Hayden Levy, who came off the bench and had a big night from deep, hit a triple to start the second, but as they did throughout the night, the Tigers answered ND’s makes from deep with efficient half court offense.

A Brady Zimmerman three a few plays later tied the game at 22-22, and twice in the second Northwestern held five-point leads. Mason Bollinger, Malachi Coleman and Zimmerman served as the catalysts on offense in the first half for the Tigers. Bollinger hit two threes in the first half and led the way with 12 points. Zimmerman added 11 and Coleman had a big second frame scoring eight.

“I thought we played really, really well. After tonight’s result, that’s the best team in the league and we played them right to the wire,” said Northwestern coach Patrick Wanamaker. “I like where we’re at. I don’t like losing. Nobody does. But I think we’re going to get better from this and the last two tough games we played at the Whitehall tournament.

“We did a good job of sharing the ball tonight, too. That’s how we play. But at the end of the game we didn’t do that as well; I thought we could’ve made a few extra passes. Whether that was fatigue that set in or somebody trying to make a play, but we will work hard to get that stuff cleaned up with a tough week ahead.”

Back-to-back threes by Cannon Fitch made it 45-38 with six minutes to play in the third, but then enter Notre Dame guard Drew Boyd. Boyd put his athleticism and ability to get down hill on full display scoring eight points in the third. Boyd’s big third helped the Crusaders go on a 10-4 run to trail by just one. Two more makes from beyond the arc from Levy gave momentum to Notre Dame as it carried a 56-52 advantage into the fourth.

“Drew Boyd really stepped up in the second half. He’s really athletic,” said Boyle. “He’s got unbelievable body control and he made some huge plays when we needed them. And then Tommy Murphy I thought took over the game. He had seven assists and most of them were in the second half. He was penetrating and finding Levy who had the hot hand. He knew exactly where he was going with the ball.”

Notre Dame was able to hold a lead until the 3:30 mark of the fourth. Two strong drives by Zimmerman— one a three-point play and another a baseline finish — plus a three point play the old fashioned way on an inside make from Coleman helped knot the game at 64-64.

But that’s when Notre Dame dug in. Consecutive late Tiger turnovers led to extra Crusaders’ possessions and they converted. A huge three from Notre Dame’s Quinn Bohn and a deuce from Murphy made it 69-64. But Northwestern continued to battle, closing within one with 30 seconds remaining with possession on an inbounds play underneath the basket.

The Tigers executed the call and got a great look but couldn’t convert. They would stay within one or two points the rest of the way and still had a chance to tie the game after some missed Notre Dame free throws down the stretch. With 5.1 seconds left and trailing 72-70, Northwestern had two free throws to tie it, but couldn’t convert and the Crusaders were able to hold on.

SHOOTERS TOUCH … Notre Dame hit 12 three-pointers in the game. Boyd led the Crusaders with 18 points.

DYNAMIC DUO … Bollinger scored a game-high 21 points and added seven rebounds. Zimmerman added 20.

NOTRE DAME

Boyd 7 3-6 18, Manning 3 8-9 15, Murphy 4 0-0 11, Bohn 2 0-0 6, Driscoll 4 1-2 13, Levy 4 1-2 13, Vrabel 0 0-0 0. Totals: 24 12-17 72.

NORTHWESTERN

Bollinger 8 2-4 21, Zimmerman 6 7-8 20, Fitch 4 0-0 10, Krimmel 2 4-5 8, Coleman 4 2-5 11, Lagowy 0 0-0 0, Wertman 0 0-0 0. Totals: 24 15-22 70.

Notre Dame 17 19 20 16 - 72

Northwestern 16 23 13 18 - 70

Three-pointers: Notre Dame - Levy 4, Murphy 3, Bohn 2, Boyd 1 Manning 1, Driscoll 1; Northwestern - Bollinger 3, Fitch 2, Zimmerman 1 Coleman 1.