To reach its goal of a .500 record and postseason qualification, Northwetsern has to pull out games like last Friday's loss to Palmerton.

The Tigers, which led most of the game, allowed the Bombers to come back in the second half and pull out their first Colonial League win in over a year.

Trailing by one with the final nine seconds winding down, Palmerton went inside to the players that had led its second-half comeback.

Their first shot rattled off the rim, but the Bombers Ben Weber grabbed the rebound and laid in the game-winning basket with three seconds left. The senior forward gave his team its first win of the season, 54-53 over Northwestern, and its first Colonial League win since Feb. 6 of 2013.

"That was a great put back," said teammate Spencer Hay, who scored 12 points to go with four blocks and nine rebounds. "That was huge for the team. He ultimately won the game with that put back."

The host Tigers (1-3 overall, 0-2 Colonial League) led from midway through the first quarter until early in the fourth quarter. After committing 13 first-half turnovers, Palmerton (1-3, 1-1) took better care of the ball (five turnovers) in the second half while dominating inside.

With three players on the floor at 6-4 or taller, the Bombers had a big size advantage over the Tigers, who have just one player on the roster over 6-1.

Hay blocked all four of his shots in the second half. Hay and Mark Quinn who scored a team-high 15 points and pulled down seven rebounds, nearly equalled the Tigers' total rebounds (20) in the game.

Hay, who is listed 6-5, created match up problems on offense and altered shots on defense.

"He's all over the place," said Northwestern head coach Billy Hallman. "He's tough to guard. He's real athletic. They used him very effectively tonight. He controlled the game on the inside. He took us out of our game getting into the lane."

The Tigers had their lead up to eight points a few times in the game, the last time coming on a Josh Williamson basket early in the second half.

Palmerton trimmed the deficit to three after three quarters and after an initial Northwestern basket, the Bombers went on a 7-0 run to take on 43-40 lead on a pair of foul shots from Joe Suto, who went 4-for-4 at the line while his teammates went just 12-for-23.

The Tigers answered with a Brady Mengal three-pointer. The Bombers went back ahead, 46-43 on Suto's basket.

A Cam Richardson three-point play tied the game. A couple missed Bomber free throws kept it tied before Suto knocked down two more foul shots for a two-point Palmerton lead with 2:16 left.

Brady Mengel put Northwestern ahead by one with his second three-pointer, but Stasko made another basket for a 50-49 lead. The Tigers' Jordan Storm tied it at the foul line, 50-50 with 1:08 left.

A put-back basket by Hay gave the Bombers a two-point lead before Mengel hit his third go-ahead three to make it 53-52 with 37 seconds left.

"They hit some big, big shots," said Palmerton head coach Leigh Keenan. "We didn't play as consistent as we wanted to in the first half. The second half is how we want to play."

Each team came up empty on a late possession before Weber's put-back basket gave his team the win.

"I was very excited with our intensity," said Hay. "Northwestern hit some big threes at the end and we didn't back down. We responded right away with big rebounding and put backs and points."

The Tigers bounced back with a win over Hamburg the next day.

Still in search of their first league win, Northwestern fell to Southern Lehigh Tuesday and had just two remaining games before the holiday break.

"We're going to take them one at a time and give it our best," said Hallman.