Things certainly didn’t look optimistic for Salisbury early in the fourth quarter of Saturday’s league game against Palmerton.

The Blue Bombers opened the final frame with a 7-0 spurt to take a 52-39 lead. Salisbury had struggled to score after putting up 31 points in the first half, but more importantly had no answers for Palmerton defensively.

But the Falcons steadily chipped away in the final minutes. And Jaxon Costello’s rebound and put back off a missed Falcon free throw with less than 20 seconds to play completed the comeback and awarded Salisbury (11-4 overall; 8-3 in Colonial League) a 58-57 victory over Palmerton (1-14; 1-9).

“I was kind of frustrated because I wasn’t finishing free throws or any of my shots down low,” Costello said. “They played really good defense. I give a lot of credit to them and their coaching staff. It was probably the best defense we played yet this year.”

Ryan Slutsky missed the second of two free throws late, leaving the Falcons staring at a one-point deficit. But Costello, who missed two free throws just seconds earlier, got a chance at redemption.

“I kind of just wanted to redeem myself from the rest of the game,” Costello said after posting 15 points and 10 rebounds. “All of the missed free throws, all of the missed shots down low, it pumped me up a little bit. I told myself I needed to do something else for the team and stay positive.”

A three-pointer from Justin Hosier at the buzzer was just off target, and Salisbury was able to avoid the upset scare. It was the second game in a row that the Falcons faced a sizable deficit in the final minutes only to orchestrate a come-from-behind rally.

“Actually our last game against Wilson the same thing happened,” Costello said. “I think we were down eight with three minutes left. It was pretty much the exact same outcome.

“We didn’t want to lose. We wanted to play our hardest quarter of basketball all year. A minute or two through the fourth we started playing really well.”

A 31-27 lead for Salisbury at halftime quickly got erased after Palmerton scored the first eight points of the third quarter. Falcon turnovers on the first two possessions of the half resulted in transition layups for the Blue Bombers, tying the game at 31-31. And their lead grew to 45-39 by the end of the frame, due in large part to 11 points from Nate Dougherty in that stretch.

“We really lacked energy in the first half,” said Jack Reichenbach, who scored a team-high 17 points. “We weren’t playing our kind of basketball. Give them a lot of credit. They had a lot of energy and they came out giving everything that they had.”

There was a point midway through the third quarter when head coach Jason Weaver pulled his starters after being unsatisfied with their effort. The message may have taken some time to hit home, but it was enough for the Falcons to crawl back over the final six minutes.

Staring at a 55-44 deficit, Reichenbach hit a three-pointer with under five minutes to play that cut Palmerton’s lead to single digits. Costello then hit back-to-back buckets, followed up by an assist to Tommy Sylvester that made it a one-possession game with 2:27 to play.

Sylvester also came up with a huge play on the defensive end, knocking the ball off a Palmerton player out of bounds. Seconds later, Reichenbach sliced through the Blue Bombers’ defense for the game-tying layup with 1:34 to play.

“We all knew why we came out; it was because we weren’t giving 110 percent,” Reichenbach said. “But once we came out and got a little break and coach talked to us, once we went back in we gave it all we had.”

Palmerton went ahead briefly moments later after Joey Suto’s rebound and put back, but there was still time left on the clock for the Falcons to complete their comeback.

Eric Baumgardt scored a game-high 18 for Palmerton and Dougherty added 16 for the Blue Bombers.

The win earned Salisbury a spot in the upcoming District 11 tournament, the third team out of the Class 4A ranks to qualify. Bethlehem Catholic and Lehighton are also currently sitting with berths clinched.