Heading into the final day of the regular season, much was already determined in terms of the upcoming Colonial League tournament.

Salisbury was already locked into a playoff spoteither as the No. 2 or No. 3 seed. Bangor had clinched the top seed. And with a win over Northwestern (2-13 heading into Friday night) for Catasauqua, the Falcons and Rough Riders would square off in a matchup of two and three seeds in the semifinals on Wednesday.

But despite their league tournament seed and opponent being all-but set, there's no question the Falcons wanted to end the regular season on a high note against Southern Lehigh on Friday night.

Unfortunately for the Falcons, things didn't end as they would've hoped.

After the Falcons held a seven-point lead with under a minute to play in the third quarter, the Spartans responded with a 12-0 run of their own to hold a 46-41 lead late in the fourth quarter. The Falcons got to within two in the final seconds, but the Spartans made enough of their free throws down the stretch to secure the 52-50 win at Southern Lehigh High School.

"You can't make excuses. We gave that game away," head coach Jason Weaver said. "We had a nice lead and we were playing well. Brad [Vangeli] hit a couple threes and we were getting in a rhythm. When they made their run, we didn't work for good possessions."

The Falcons were without one of their leaders in Austin Uhl, who was nursing a back injury he aggravated in the Falcons' previous game. Despite missing their biggest body in the paint, the Falcons were able to hang with the Spartans until the finish.

Vangeli, who led the Falcons with 15 points, hit a three-pointer in the final seconds to make it a two-point game. After two missed free throws by Southern Lehigh with 2.1 seconds remaining, the Falcons couldn't retrieve the rebound for a last-second heave.

"I thought we didn't get good possessions. I think we rushed a little bit," said Weaver. "Their size hurt us without Austin inside a bit. [Jacob] Cassel, [Mike] Zabrecky and [Troy] Reppert combined for 40 [for Southern Lehigh]."

Pitted in a 34-34 game in the midst of the third quarter, the Falcons scored the next seven points to secure their largest lead of the game. Vangeli found Bryce Fairclough, who started in place of Uhl, for a basket.

Vangeli then hit a three-pointer from the right wing to make it 39-34. Aungst's shot in the lane with under a minute remaining in the third made it 41-34.

Aungst finished with 12 points. Naveed Hadian tallied 10 points and four assists, and Fairclough recorded seven points and nine rebounds.

"I think he [Fairclough] battled," Weaver said. "He played good defense and finished inside. For not playing that many minutes, I think he did a great job."

Southern Lehigh jumped out to a quick 9-2 lead before the Falcons were able to retake the lead early in the second quarter.

The No. 3 seeded Falcons and No. 2 seeded Rough Riders will tipoff at 6 p.m. on Wednesday night at Southern Lehigh High School. The Rough Riders defeated the Falcons, 47-45, in mid-January.

"Overall, I thought the defense was probably good enough," Weaver said of the previous meeting. "We just need to probably work for better shots offensively. They were really patient. We've got to be able to disrupt them maybe a little bit more defensively."

The winner of Wednesday's Colonial League semifinal will face the winner of No. 1 seed Bangor vs. No. 4 seed Notre Dame-Green Pond in the championship game on Friday at Freedom High School. Tipoff for that game will be at 7:45 p.m.