Salisbury was doing everything in its power to give up a late lead to Northwestern and jeopardize its undefeated record in the Colonial League.

Down 37-30 with less than three minutes to play, Northwestern cut Salisbury’s lead to four points with 40 seconds left of the clock. A Falcon foul in the backcourt, nearly three-quarters of the length of the court away from the basket, awarded the Tigers two free throws that made it a 38-36 game with 11.5 seconds. And when the Falcons stepped out of bounds trying to break Northwestern’s ensuing full-court press, the opportunity for a game-tying basket was there.

Instead, Erika Thomas’ deep jumper from the top of the key was off target and the Falcons escaped with a 38-36 win at Salisbury High School on Saturday.

“Obviously when you don’t play in close games a lot, this is what happens,” Mladosich said. “You’re not used to playing in that. We want to get the ball in the hands of our better players, and we didn’t do that. We were throwing it away.”

While the finish isn’t what Mladosich had in mind when the Falcons scored just two points in the final 4:27, Salisbury (5-4 overall, 6-0 in Colonial League) is one of two unbeaten teams left in conference play. Southern Lehigh is the other at 7-0.

“This was a big win for us,” said guard Lindsay Bauer, who scored a game-high 20 points. “Northwestern is always a tough team. It’s always great to beat them especially with games like Southern Lehigh and Notre Dame coming up.”

“Any game that is a toss up we need to get,” Mladosich said. “I thought we could play with them here. It’s at home. It’s a game we needed to win.”

Behind 14 first-half points from Thomas, the Tigers built a commanding 19-9 lead just two minutes into the second quarter. Thomas had just hit back-to-back three-pointers, while the Falcons hadn’t scored since late in the opening quarter.

But instead of folding with that deficit staring them in the eyes against their most difficult league opponent to date, the Falcons responded. And it started with their unquestioned leader.

After Kyra Bruns scored to break Salisbury’s offensive drought, Bauer hit a three-pointer from the right wing the next time down the court to make it a 19-14 Northwestern lead. The Tigers’ lead was cut to just two when Bauer hit another three-pointer 1:26 later, keeping pace with Thomas in the scoring column.

“Our moms are best friends, and we’re best friends,” Bauer said. “Coming in it’s always kind of personal. You always want to outscore and beat out the other one. I think that gave me a lot of energy, and I think that energy transferred out to everyone else on the team.”

That momentum certainly spread among the rest of the Falcons. Holly Bruns’ layup with less than a minute remaining in the half tied the game at 19. Kristen Bucchin’s baseline jumper regained the lead for Salisbury seconds later, and the Falcons took a 22-19 lead into halftime after Paige Nicholas hit one of two free throws.

Bauer went into the half with 15 points. Thomas was right behind her at 14.

“We can all act like defense is what gets you back in the game, but it seems that once kids start hitting a few shots, they want to play,” Mladosich said. “Then they can play defense…We hit a couple of shots and then we got some momentum.”

Salisbury’s lead grew to as much as six points in the third quarter, including at 29-23 when Bauer set up Rylee Donaldson for a layup in transition. And while the Tigers got to with a point early in the fourth quarter, it was the Falcons’ supporting cast who helped that lead stay in tact until the final whistle.

Kyra Bruns, who finished with six points for the Falcons, boosted the Falcons’ lead to 33-28 with consecutive field goals. Holly Bruns’ running floater made it 35-30, and Bauer gave Salisbury its biggest lead at 37-30 moments later.

“I can trust them with the ball, and I know that they’re going to be able to put points up there, like Kelly [Gonoude] and Meagan [Eripret] were able to do in the past,” Bauer said. “I feel like people are finally filling those roles.”

Meanwhile, Thomas was held without a field goal and to just four points in the second half. She didn’t hit a three-pointer, going 0-for-5 in the second half, after hitting three in the first 16 minutes.

“We wanted to run at her,” Mladosich said. “I don’t think she can put it on the floor and go by as easy as she can shoot.”