Northwestern's boys basketball team has three more games to continue building on the improvement it made this season.

The Tigers have already won three times as many games as last season. Their progress can be seen on the court as well as in the standings.

With three games remaining in the season, another win or two could be a big boost to the program heading into the offseason. Northwestern travels to Palmerton on Friday then faces Bangor and Catasauqua next week.

"It's going to be tough," said second-year Northwestern head coach Dan Eddinger. "We have two district qualifiers. If we could win two out of three that would garner a lot of momentum heading into the offseason. I'm more focused on whether we are getting better in a lot of different areas. The answer is at times yes and at times no."

The Tigers could use one upset win this season. They've beaten all the teams that they should have this season, but haven't knocked off any teams that are district playoff qualifiers.

Northwestern faced a playoff-bound team Tuesday as rival Northern Lehigh visited New Tripoli.

The Bulldogs start three players that stand 6-feet, 5-inches or taller.

Northwestern only has two players on its roster that are over 6-feet.

Northern Lehigh's Josh Eden drew the mismatch and took advantage of it, scoring 21 points in a 57-32 win over the Tigers Tuesday.

"Early on coach told the guys to look for me in the post," said Eden, a 6-5 senior forward. "I got some easy ones around the basket and that led me to open up my outside game."

Eden scored six points in the first quarter and erupted for 11 more in the second, including his team's last nine points before halftime.

The Bulldogs used their size to out-rebound Northwestern 22-6 in the first half. They made 13 of 25 shots and built a 29-10 lead at halftime, with Eden draining a three-pointer in the final minute of the third quarter.

"We just didn't man up and rebound," said Northwestern head coach Dan Eddinger. "We gave up so many opportunities early in the game. We let them set the tone on the boards. Instead of one and done we let them have four or five opportunities."

Matt Egan scored the first three points of the second half, putting Northern Lehigh ahead by 20 for the first time, 32-10 with 5:44 left in the third quarter.

Egan scored 11 points in the game, while the Bulldogs (12-6 overall, 7-5 Colonial League) got only a few points, but a lot of production from their two returning big men.

Caleb Johnson, a 6-5 senior, scored nine points and pulled down seven rebounds. Lucas Pierce, a 6-7 senior, hauled in six rebounds while blocking three shots and dishing out four assists.

"We just wanted to pound the ball inside," said Miller. "We thought coming that our size could dictate the flow of the game. We have a tendency not to use our size to our advantage all of the time. We were trying to concentrate on doing that a little more."

Northwestern (6-13, 3-10) just couldn't match up with Northern Lehigh's size. At one point in the fourth quarter, the three starting big men were on the floor along with sixth man Josh Landsberger, a 6-5 junior.

"We have two guys who can match up but not a third," said Eddinger. "Unfortunately the third scored 21 points against us."