For Northwestern to be the kind of team that it wants to be this year, the Tigers need to continue to pull out games like Tuesday night's contest against Pen Argyl.

The Tigers took an early lead before the Knights fought back. Pen Argyl even took a lead in the second half, but Northwestern showed resilience and heart down the stretch to pull out a 52-48 win in their home opener and league opener.

"When they kept coming back it was like a flashback to last year," said Tigers senior guard David Wagner. "We gave up games in the second half last year. This year we're a totally different team."

The Knights (1-1 overall, 0-1 Colonial League) had the ball with just over a minute to play and the game tied at 45. Pressure from Ty Richardson and Josh Williamson forced a Pen Argyl turnover that led to the Tigers (1-2, 1-0) taking the lead for good.

Cam Richardson drove for a layup with 46 seconds to give the Tigers a 47-45 lead. He made it a three-point lead by hitting the first of two free throws 15 seconds later. Teammate Collin Breidinger made what could have been the game's most crucial play when he rebounded the missed free throw, drew a foul and calmly sank a pair of foul shots to put his team up 50-45.

The Knights didn't go away. Chris Muller hit a three-pointer to close the margin to two points with 15 seconds left. They sent Wagner to the line with nine second to play and he hit both, finishing off a team-high 12-point effort and sealing the win.

"I was just zoned out knowing what I had to knew," Wagner said of his trip to the line. "I just had to get it done for the team."

Second-year head coach Dan Eddinger was happy his team didn't lose confidence when the Knights made their runs.

"This team fought back," said Northwestern head coach Dan Eddinger. "It's really nice to get a win, not for myself, but for the boys. I'm happy for them. "I'm proud of the way they finished the game. I'm proud of the fact that they hit free throws."

The Tigers didn't miss a foul shot through three quarters, going 11 for 11. They finished the game 20 for 26. Pen Argyl, on the other hand, went 13 for 22.

"The difference was the free throws," said Pen Argyl head coach Al Bount. "That hurt us. Other than that it was an even ball game. It was a hard-fought basketball game between two teams and they did enough to win."

Northwestern jumped out to a 9-0 lead midway through the first quarter. The Knight pulled within one early in the second period, but fell back behind by nine before going to intermission down 24-17.

The Tigers turned the ball over eight times in the first five minutes of the second half as Pen Argyl cut the lead down to 30-29 with 3:12 left in the third quarter and went up by one with a second left before the fourth.

With Knights point guard Eddi Montasero on the bench after fouling out in the third quarter, the Knights couldn't find offensive rhythm the rest of the way.

The final stanza saw the Pen Argyl make just one of seven free throws. The Tigers, who also got into foul trouble as Williamson, Binder and Cam RIchardson all finished the game with four fouls, went back ahead on a Williamson three-pointer early in the fourth and never gave up the lead the rest of the way.

"One of the things that's nice about this year's team is they don't give up," said Eddinger. "Last year in the third quarter we would have let this game go downhill and gotten blown out."

The Tigers, which went 0-2 at the season-opening Wilson Tournament, have a difficult schedule heading into the Christmas break. They face Northern Lehigh on Friday, Palmerton on Tuesday and Catasauqua the following Thursday.

"This win is real important," said Wagner. "We played well [Tuesday], but we definitely have a long road ahead of us. This win is nice, but need 10 more to get to districts."