After Wilson’s Jeff Cooper scored 12 points in the first half, Dylan Belletiere’s defense was crucial in holding the Warriors’ guard to eight points in the second half and two overtime periods.

Belletiere’s offense down the stretch may have been even more vital.

Salisbury and Wilson played to a 45-45 tie at the end of regulation with just six points scored in that period, three from each side. Neither team got on the scoreboard in the first overtime session, with Wilson playing stall ball much like it did near the end of the fourth quarter.

But the second overtime was a different story. Belletiere scored Salisbury’s first points in roughly six minutes with a drive down the right side of the paint. He hit another bucket almost two minutes later, and made five of six free throws down the stretch to lift the Falcons (5-0 overall, 4-0 in Colonial League) to a 56-48 win over Wilson (0-6, 0-4). Belletiere scored nine of Salisbury’s 11 points in the second overtime.

“Everyone on the team is a scorer,” Belletiere said after posting a game-high 22 points. “At the end of the game I really wanted to close it out. My teammates were finding me. I couldn’t do it without them.”

The win was Salisbury’s most competitive this season, with the Falcons facing a one-point deficit with under a minute to play in the fourth quarter. And a win such as the one they secured last Thursday against the Warriors can have more meaning than just an early season victory.

“That’s definitely going to help us against teams that we’re going to have to be competitive with down the stretch,” Belletiere said. “We’ve had good games in the beginning going 4-0, but a close game like this is really going to give us an advantage when we need it down the stretch.”

The Falcons finished the first quarter with a 16-11 lead and shortly after took their biggest lead of the game at the time by scoring the first points of the second quarter. But Cooper (six points in the second quarter) and the Warriors slowly crept back into the game to trail by just one at halftime.

Salisbury’s lead was never given up in the third quarter, but Wilson continued to stay within striking distance to tie it at 42 going into the fourth. Fortunately for the Falcons despite its offense becoming stagnant in the fourth quarter, their defense rose to the occasion when they needed it most.

“I thought in the end of the fourth quarter and overtime, every jump shot was contested,” Weaver said. “I thought our defense really came together late in terms of being in the right position and helping.

“Dylan busted his butt on Cooper. We just wanted him to take him away, and he worked hard and did it. And [Chad] Cooperman on [Amir] Alexander is a tough matchup quickness-wise, but he was in the right position and guys were helping at the right time.”

Cooper hit five of his nine shots in the first half, including two 3-pointers in the opening quarter. The rest of the way he went 3-for-12. And Belletiere was a big reason in that change, playing all 40 minutes and handling the man-to-man coverage against Cooper for much of the game.

“Coach really stressed face-guarding him and not letting him get touches,” Belletiere said. “In the second half, after he was hitting all of those shots in the first half, I really put it on myself that I had to lock down to help my team get the win because all of the offense was going through him.”

Jack Reichenbach scored 12 for the Falcons, while Tevon Weber had a solid all-around game with nine points, eight rebounds, six assists and three blocks.

To pair with Cooper’s 20, Alexander poured in 13 points for Wilson.