Salisbury is putting together a pretty good season despite losing four starters from last year’s team that finished 14-10.

On Friday night, though, the Falcons were out rebounded and lacked the speed to stick with Northwestern Lehigh as the Tigers took control early and ran away for a 77-42 Colonial League win.

Salisbury scored the first basket of the game for what would be its only lead as Northwestern rattled off 13 unanswered points. The Tigers would stretch their lead to 22-4 by the end of the first quarter.

In the second frame, senior Shane Marth scored 12 of his game-high 22 points as Northwestern put the game into the mercy rule when Gavin Nelson drained a three-pointer with 1:00 left in the first half. The Tigers held a 51-19 lead at halftime.

“We always want to come out and get off to a great start, especially defensively,” said Nelson. “Coach Wanamaker always tells us, ‘That’s where we want to hang our hats.’ We really pride ourselves on being a great defensive team and our defense really leads to offense, so it’s huge for us to come out strong.”

Salisbury junior Steven Lozada seemed determined to pull the Falcons back into the game and scored nine third-quarter points, but the Tigers still held a solid 65-34 lead after three quarters.

With many of the backup players getting minutes for both teams through the final two quarters, Northwestern was able to hang on to their big lead the rest of the way.

In the end, the Tigers were able to use their size and quickness to a distinct advantage over Salisbury. Northwestern had 12 points on second-chance baskets and eight points off of steals.

“We rebounded the ball really well tonight, and that’s a point of emphasis for us because we want to finish possessions, rebound the ball defensively, and then be able to get out and run in transition,” said Tiger head coach Patrick Wanamaker. “On nights when we’re able to do that, it generally leads to a good offensive night for us.”

The success of the football program pushed back the start of the basketball schedule and condensed Northwestern’s schedule into a shorter period of time. Because of that, the team has endured some difficult stretches of back-to-back games and were playing their fourth game in five days Friday night.

“You can feel it a little sometimes, but when it’s a big game, you just forget about that and get a second wind,” said Marth. “It’s helped, too, that we have been able to get big leads in a few games and we can get a break and get other guys into the game and give them some experience. I think overall we feel pretty good, and we’re ready to keep going.”

The Tigers got 30 points from their bench Friday night with Malachi Coleman leading the way with 10 points and Brady Zimmerman adding eight.

STANDINGS UPDATE … Northwestern and Lehighton are tied for the top spot in the Colonial League West Division with 8-1 records. The two teams have yet to play this season and will meet Thursday at Lehighton and Jan. 24 at Northwestern. The Tigers have wrapped up a spot in the district playoffs and are currently the No. 2 team in 4A, just behind Allentown Central Catholic (11-2) and just ahead of Lehighton (11-1) in the power rankings.

SALISBURY

Lozada 7-2-2-17, Holler 3-0-0-7, B. Gonzalez 1-1-2-4, Petrie 3-0-0-7, Makhoul 1-0-0-3, Leiner 0-0-0-0, Kloosterman 0-0-0-0, Smarch 1-0-0-2, Gracia 0-0-0-0, J. Gonzalez 1-0-1-2, Cady 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 17-3-5-42.

NORTHWESTERN

Krimmel 0-0-0-0, Bollinger 4-3-4-11, E. Zimmerman 1-1-2-3, Nelson 5-0-0-11, Marth 9-0-0-22, B. Zimmerman 3-0-0-8, Wambold 1-0-0-3, Fitch 1-0-0-3, Wertman 0-0-0-0, Lagowy 0-0-0-0, Coleman 4-0-2-10, Fitzgerald 1-0-0-2, Moyer 0-0-0-0, Berk 2-0-2-4. TOTALS: 31-4-10-77.

Salisbury 4 15 15 8 - 42

N’western 22 29 14 12 - 77

Three-pointers: Salisbury - Lozada 1, Holler 1, B. Gonzalez 1, Petrie 1, Makhoul 1; Northwestern - Marth 4, Coleman 2, B. Zimmerman 2, Wambold 1, Fitch 1, Nelson 1.

Records: Salisbury (8-5; 5-4); Northwestern (12-2; 9-1).