The improvement the Northwestern basketball has shown this year is evident in the team's record.

At 8-12 overall and 5-10 in the Colonial League, this year's team has more wins than any Tiger team since the 2009-10 team went 7-9.

Northwestern has been learning how to win games all season long, and it showed Saturday when the Tigers pulled out their first close game of the season, beating Pen Argyl , 54-50 on a late Parker Jones three-pointer and a Taylor Breininger steal that sealed the win.

"This is the first time all year that we were in that situation and we came out with the win so that feels really good," said Northwestern head coach Billy Hallman. "They made a run. We knew they would. They took the lead, but our guys battled back."

For a second late in the game, it looked like the Tigers might let it slip. They led throughout the second and third quarters, but gave up the lead midway through the fourth. A turnover with the game tied led to the Knights taking a 48-46 lead with 1:08 left in the game.

The Tigers answered with Jones' three-pointer with 50 seconds left for a one-point lead.

"The guys were still upbeat in the huddle," said Hallman. "We ran a play and they ran it to perfection. Parker stepped up and hit that three. It's almost like that relaxed them. They got the lead back and they finished the game off."

Pen Argyl was patiently looking for the right shot for the go-ahead basket when the Tigers' Taylor Breininger swiped the ball and went the other way for a lay up and a 51-48 lead with 30 second remaining.

The Knights didn't get closer the rest of the way.

"We had a lot of close games this year and came up on the short end," said Brady Mengel, who scored 10 points, including two late free throws to help seal it. "This game proved we could bounce back and fight."

The Tigers used an inside-outside passing game to get open shots and it made for a balanced scoresheet as five players scored eight or more points.

Cam Richardson, Breininger and Jones had a team-high 11 points each. Richardson added five assists and consistently kicked the ball outside to open shooters. He made the pass on Jones' late go-ahead three-pointer.

Mengel hit a pair of threes in the game. Jones had three three-pointers and Matt Archer (11 points) made two as the Tigers went 7-for-17 from long range.

"I think the key was playing as a team and moving the ball around," said Jones. "They were playing a zone so if you move it around you can either dish it inside or kick it out for a three, which has been our game all season."

Point guard Josh Williamson had four assists, while Mengel had two. Breininger pulled down a team-high eight rebounds.

The Tigers had three games remaining after the win over Pen Argyl and needed to win all three to earn a district playoff berth.

While Tuesday's loss to Salisbury ended those hopes, it's still the closest this team has come to the postseason in 10 six years.

"This is the first time any of the guys have played a meaningful game this late in the season," said Hallman. "That's only going to make us better as we move forward."

"I think we made a lot of strides in the offseason and that carried over to the season," said Jones. "Our seniors are doing well, keeping the team on track. I don't think our record shows how good we are. Sometimes we're ahead and we just blow games."