If not for the fact that they were all wearing masks, one might have likely felt a breeze from the Northwestern Lehigh bench when players and coaches exhaled following a harrowing final minute of play against Salisbury recently.

The game was a constant swing of a pendulum on the scoreboard and came down to a three-point shot for the win at the buzzer by the Falcons Quintin Stephens. Stephens, who had already hit for a trio of three-pointers in the game, bounced the shot off the far side of the rim with just enough momentum to carry it harmlessly past the basket, allowing Northwestern to get out of Salisbury Township with a 40-38 win.

Just 24 seconds before the final shot, Stephens had nailed a three-pointer to bring Salisbury to within two points. When Northwestern turned the ball over on its next possession, Salisbury was set for the final shot and was able to get the ball to Stephens, just how it had been drawn up during a time out.

“We only had one team foul, so we were trying to foul as much as we could,” said Northwestern head coach Jerry Lloyd. “They got the ball on the side rather than underneath the basket so we had to go to a two-three zone and whenever that happens, there’s a chance of giving up the three. So we just tried to contest as best we could. We did a good job, but you’re just holding your breath when it goes up.”

In the first minute of the game, Salisbury went up 4-0, leading Lloyd to call an early timeout because his team had quickly gotten away from the game plan.

After a fiery timeout, Northwestern returned to the floor and quickly erased the deficit. This time, it was Salisbury who regrouped and pushed the Tigers down by seven before the pendulum swung the other way when the Tigers used a 9-0 run to take a lead with 1:43 left in the quarter.

Daniel Scialla hit for two and Stephens followed by draining two foul shots to hand the lead back to Salisbury at 15-13. A low-scoring second quarter had Salisbury leading 23-21 at halftime.

Salisbury’s Stephens and Kenyo Herrera took over in the third quarter and combined for eight points to put the Tigers down 31-24 midway through the quarter, but the Falcons lost their grip on the pendulum and Northwestern’s Ethan Lazarus and Andres Garrido scored eight unanswered points to give the Tigers a 32-31 edge going into the final eight minutes of the game.

“We’re just working to find the open guy and we’re coming together, scoring and putting our hearts out on the floor,” said Garrido about finding consistency on offense.

Northwestern Lehigh stretched their lead to 40-35 with just 40 seconds to play in the game. As Northwestern continued to use up fouls to take some time off the clock, Stephens found the open shot for his three-pointer that cut the lead to two. On his game-winning attempt, Stephens found himself open in the corner, but put the shot just long.

“Our defense converts to offense and it’s working pretty well,” said Garrido. “We’re 4-1 to start the year [in the Colonial League], so that’s a really good start.”

Stephens led all scorers with 19 points in the game, while Ethan Lazarus led Northwestern Lehigh with 13. Justin Holmes led Northwestern with eight rebounds and Stephens had seven for the Falcons.

“We knew it was going to be a battle coming in here tonight and I’m really proud of these guys,” said Lloyd. “They just got a big win [against Palmerton] and they’re fighting to stay in this thing and Jason [Salisbury coach Jason Weaver] always has his team ready to go and ready to give you a battle.”

One key for Northwestern Lehigh was its ability to hit foul shots down the stretch, helping their cause. Overall, they hit 8-of-11 from the line against the Falcons. They also limited the free-throw opportunities for Salisbury, who went to the line for just three shots, all of which came when Stephens was fouled attempting a three-pointer late in the first quarter. Stephens hit two of the three shots.