It sure wasn't the way head coach Jason Weaver drew up the inbounds play after a timeout with 53 seconds left on the clock.

But as long as it ended in a positive for Salisbury, it didn't really matter.

Deadlocked in a 39-39 game against Bangor after Michael Martino sank two free throws, the Falcons had the ball with under a minute to play, looking to retake the lead.

But the Falcons' inbound attempt under the Slaters' hoop went anything but according to plan. After nearly turning the ball over on a number of occasions, seeing Chad Cooperman and Dasheen Reid, among others, dive for the loose ball all over the court, it ended up in Brendan Reichenbach's hands. After a few dribbles, Reichenbach found an open Tevon Weber on the left side of the hoop. Weber secured the ball and laid it in for the deciding bucket in the Falcons' (11-1 overall; 8-0 in Colonial League) 43-39 win at Bill Pensyl Gymnasium.

"Everybody was fighting for the loose ball," Weber said. "No one was really on me, so I just ran down the court. Once we broke through the defense, I was wide open for a layup."

The Slaters (9-2 overall; 7-2 in Colonial League) had an opportunity seconds later, but Anthony Schiavone missed two foul shots. And while the Falcons missed the front end of their next two one-and-one opportunities, Dylan Belletiere hit two from the line with 3.8 seconds left that cemented the Falcons' eighth league win in as many games.

Southern Lehigh is the only other unbeaten team in the Colonial League.

"We knew it was a tough crowd," said Reid, who scored a game-high 15 points. "We knew it was going to be a tough game. It's a tough place to play. We just tried to come in here and get ourselves a win."

"With this win we clinched districts," Weber said.

Bangor, who held a lead for nearly the entire first half, led by as many as six at 19-13 in the second period.

But the Falcons finished the half on a 12-6 run, and that momentum shifted into the third quarter, one in which Salisbury's defense allowed five points on 2-for-15 shooting.

"We always have a rocky first half," Reid said. "In the third quarter, we came out and played defense. That's all we needed to do."

The Falcons led 35-28 late in the third after Reichenbach's third 3-pointer of the game. Bangor, however, scored the next eight points after Shavaughn Morris (13 points) hit one of two free throws to retake the lead at 36-35.

Neither team led by by more than four points the rest of the way.

The Slaters' offense struggled across the board, particularly in the second half when they shot 3-for-26 from the field and 7-for-13 from the foul line.

"We always pick up our defense in the second half," Weber said. "Our defense is great. That's why we win games. We hold teams to a small amount of points."

To go along with Reid's 15, Weber added 12 points, eight rebounds and five blocks. Reichenbach scored nine.

Martino (11) and Seth Benton (10) finished in double figures for Bangor.

The road ahead doesn't get any easier, as only one team will remain unbeaten in the league following Tuesday's game at Southern Lehigh. Results were not available at time of press. See next week's Press for results.