The roller coaster ride that the Salisbury basketball team is on has gone into a downhill portion of the track since new calendars went up on the wall.

After snapping a three-game slide with a win over Saucon Valley, Salisbury has dropped its first two games of 2019 with losses to tough opponents in Notre Dame of Green Pond (8-3 overall, 5-2 Colonial) and Northwestern Lehigh (5-5, 4-3).

The Crusaders beat Salisbury 79-56 behind 26 points from Chris Omick and 17 from Brendan Boyle. Sean Snyder led the Falcons with 12 points, nailing three three-pointers in the game.

Against Northwestern Lehigh, Tommy Sylvester led Salisbury (5-6, 3-4) with 10 points in what would turn out to be a 69-50 loss.

Northwestern jumped out to a 20-12 lead after the first quarter and stretched it to a 42-25 halftime advantage.

With Sylvester scoring eight first-half points and Kenyo Herrera adding seven, the Tigers made some defensive adjustments during the break and were able to shut down both players in the second half, making the difference in the game.

Northwestern was able to use strong ball-handling and their size to pull away from Salisbury. The Tigers, with a senior-laden lineup, have shown a penchant for making pinpoint passes and not turning the ball over this season.

“That just comes from our guys being so familiar with each other,” said Tiger head coach Billy Hallman. “They know where each other is going to be and have a knack of getting the ball to them.

“Minimizing turnovers and moving the ball around has been important for us, especially when we get into close games, so that we’re not giving away points.”

The Falcons were hard pressed to find an answer for the size of Devin Thomas and Deven Bollinger around the basket, giving Northwestern multiple shot opportunities.

Salisbury had a four-game win streak earlier in the season to go to 4-1, but a three-game slide evened out their record. Since then, they’ve gone 1-2, with the loss to the Tigers dropping them below the .500-mark both overall and in the Colonial League.

The up-and-down play has Salisbury needing some big wins over the last half of the season to qualify for districts.

The good news is that after playing at Bangor (8-2, 6-1) tomorrow night, the Falcons then have games against Southern Lehigh (4-7, 4-3) and Catasauqua (1-8, 1-6) that are very winnable games.