Arms waving, Northern Lehigh’s Teague Herzog leaped high into the air to slap the ball away as Moravian’s Ben Borsuk tried to make an inbound play with one second left.

All Borsuk could do on his next attempt was fire it high into the rafters.

By the time the time the ball bounced back onto the court, the clock had hit zero and the Bulldogs were celebrating a 41-40 Colonial League victory over the Lions.

It punctuated an emotional Senior Night for the scrappy team from Slatington, which gave Patrick Wanamaker his first victory as Northern Lehigh’s head coach.

“It feels good on so many different levels,” said Wanamaker. “It feels different than any win I’ve ever had before, at any level.

“To get them a win, on this night at home, it’s just indescribable. I couldn’t be more proud of the way that those guys battled to the very end.”

The Bulldogs (1-7) trailed 40-37 late in the fourth quarter.

A basket by Mike Repsher made it a one-point game with 2:30 remaining.

After two missed free throws by Moravian (0-6) kept the score 40-39, Ardit Mujovic put Northern Lehigh ahead by one with under a minute remaining.

The Lions missed two more free throws with 15.6 to play but had two chances on a layup and put-back with the clock winding down but they couldn’t either to fall.

“We’re not always going to do it pretty, but we’re going to do it,” said Wanamaker. “I told them if they fight for 32 minutes, we’re going to be there at the end. And that’s exactly what they did.”

Mujovic sparked the offense with six straight points in the second quarter, giving Northern Lehigh its first lead at 16-15. The Bulldogs trailed 13-6 early in the period.

The senior finished with a game-high 17 points.

“They’re a good team as well,” Mujovic said of Moravian. “You just have to do whatever the team needs. There are always ups and downs in a game. But if you get too excited off of one point or to down off of one point, it’s not going to be good.

“So you just have to stay level.”

Moravian opened the second half with a 6-0 run to take a 23-20 lead.

But the Bulldogs responded with a 7-0 surge to reclaim their advantage.

The largest deficit either team faced in the second half was four points. The game was tied three times (33, 35, 37) in the fourth quarter.

“It was definitely a roller coaster of emotions tonight,” said senior Jaden Marlatt, who scored 10 points. “But we just tried to stay focused when for when the time comes, and grind it out.”

Abhi Patel got hot for the Lions in the second half, scoring eight of his 13 points in the third quarter. Adam Fatebene was a force in the first half for Moravian, registering eight of 11 points in the first two quarters.

The Lions fouled in the final second after missing the two shots from close range, sending Northern Lehigh’s DeSean Smith to the line.

After a miss and a rebound, their ensuing inbound play needing to go the length of the floor.

Herzog made sure it never had a chance.

BIG BOOST

... Senior Ryan Hammond recently returned for the Bulldogs. His presence was felt on Friday night. “Defensively, we got a huge boost with him coming back,” said Wanamaker of Hammond, who also had four points. “He had broken his wrist. He was cleared yesterday, played yesterday, and then he was back in the starting lineup tonight. To have him back defensively, you could just feel the difference. The kids really respond to him. He’s just a natural leader for us, and he’s been working really hard at practice just to get back. To see him come back on Senior Night, it was kind of that emotional boost that we needed.”

STAYING BUSY

... Friday’s game was Northern Lehigh’s third in as many days. The Bulldogs played Wilson Thursday and faces Southern Lehigh Wednesday.

MORAVIAN

Smith 0-0-0-0, Patel 5-0-2-13, Menichelli 0-0-0-0, Mariani 2-2-2-6, B. Borsuk 2-1-4-5, Fatebene 4-3-4-11, Ray 2-0-0-5, Messman 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 15-6-12-40.

NORTHERN LEHIGH

Mujovic 8-1-3-17, Hammond 2-0-0-4, Parvel 0-0-0-0, Zambo 1-0-0-2, Smith 1-0-1-2, Herzog 0-0-0-0, Marlatt 4-2-2-10, Repsher 3-0-0-6, Wilk 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 19-3-6-41.

Moravian 10 7 15 8 - 40

N. Lehigh 6 14 13 8 - 41

Three-pointers: Moravian - Patel 3, Ray 1. Northern Lehigh - None.