Things can turn around very quickly for a team.

One week ago, a Northwestern player walked out of the locker room after a loss to Northern Lehigh and said to the media waiting outside “you might want to wait, he’s not very happy.”

He was talking about head coach Billy Hallman, whose team had turned in one of its weaker performances of the season.

The Tigers are battling for a playoff spot and the loss put them in a tough spot.

Just one week later, things look much better after a 49-36 Colonial League win over Salisbury (8-13, 5-11) that featured senior Sam Yadush nailing his 1,000th career point as part of the game.

The celebration was the exclamation point on what may have been one of the better all-around games the Tigers (10-10 overall, 8-7 league) have played this season.

“We did well as a team,” said Hallman. “A couple looks didn’t go our way, but defensively, we challenged them this week and we were able to hold them tonight, so that was great to see.”

As for Yadush, his 1,000th point came at just the right time. With 5:55 left in regulation, he pulled up for a little jumper from around the foul line for his 18th point of the night that also gave Northwestern its biggest lead to that point at 40-30.

“It meant the world to me, especially doing it in front of my parents and my family and our home crowd,” said Yadush. “I couldn’t have done it without all of my teammates over the past four years.”

Northwestern opened the game by commanding the boards with Deven Bollinger pulling down three rebounds in the first three minutes of the game. The two teams were in an 11-11 stalemate after the first quarter, but Northwestern pulled out to a 25-19 halftime lead.

Before the Tigers could truly take command of the game, the Falcons made a run midway through the third quarter that saw Quinn Warmkessel tie the game at 28-28 with a drive down the lane.

But Northwestern quickly regrouped and rebuilt its lead to six points by the end of the quarter.

Yadush buried a three-pointer to give the Tigers a 10-point lead. Salisbury again cut the margin to six, but a 9-0 run by Northwestern stretched the lead to as high as 15 points in the final period.

“We knew that they’re a physical team, so we told our big guys to be ready and they stood up to the test for us,” said Hallman.

“I thought Conner Snyder especially did a nice job and it really frustrated them. Our guys did a nice job of standing up to it, but not retaliating.”

Yadush finished with a game-high 18 points, followed by Devin Thomas’ 12. Sean Snyder led Salisbury with 11.

THE SITUATION AS WE KNOW IT ... Basically, there are four teams battling for two playoff spots in the Colonial League. Wilson (13-6, 10-5), Northern Lehigh (13-7, 9-6), Palmerton (11-8, 8-6) and Northwestern are all looking to earns berths.

BIG NIGHT FOR THE KIDS ... Youth players from around the Northwestern area served as counters to hold up signs after each of Yadush’s baskets showing how many more points he needed to reach 1,000. Following the game, the Northwestern players returned to the court and signed autographs for the kids in attendance.

SALISBURY

Foley 1-1-2-3, Cornish 0-0-0-0, Sylvester 1-1-2-4, Stephens 3-2-3-8, Zong 0-0-0-0, Herrera 1-0-0-2, Frankenfield 1-0-0-2, Panariello 1-0-0-2, Warmkessel 2-0-0-4, Snyder 3-2-2-11. TOTALS: 13-6-9-36.

NORTHWESTERN

Hebelka 1-0-0-2, Seyfried 1-0-0-3, Yadush 8-0-0-18, Hagadus 0-0-0-0, Bollinger 2-0-1-5, McCann 2-0-0-6, Rebert 0-0-0-0, Henry 0-0-0-0, Snyder 1-1-4-3, Thomas 6-0-0-12, Holmes 0-0-0-0. TOTALS 21-1-5-49.

Salisbury 11 8 10 7 - 36

N’western 11 14 10 14 - 49

Three-pointers: Salisbury - Snyder 3, Sylvester 1; Northwestern - Yadush 2, McCann 2, Seyfried 1, Bollinger 1.