Northwestern Lehigh relies on spreading the ball around and getting everyone involved in the offense.

On Friday night against Lehighton, seven different players hit shots from beyond the arc and three players were in double digits in scoring with senior Gavin Nelson leading the way with 30 points as the Tigers shut down Lehighton 85-59 in a key Colonial League matchup.

Nelson’s big night moved him past 2005 graduate Ryan Oxley and into second place on the Tigers list of all-time scorers. Steve Showers — Class of 2001 — is the all-time scoring leader with 1,451 points. Nelson got help from Shane Marth, who scored 11, and Mason Bollinger who dropped in 10.

Eli Zimmerman hit a three-pointer just two minutes into the game to put Northwestern up by five and after a turnover, drove the lane to give the Tigers a 9-2 lead. Zimmerman and Bollinger both scored seven first-quarter points as Northwestern pushed its lead to 26-17 at the end of the first frame.

“We have a lot of guys who can score on this team, and we’re not afraid to share the ball,” said Zimmerman. “The other night we had six different guys in double figures and when you have as many guys as we do that can shoot like that, you’re going to be pretty successful.”

Lehighton’s Joe Roth worked to keep his team in the game and had 16 points by halftime. Four of his points came off of offensive rebounds that he was able to pull down and put back in.

Even with Roth’s heroics, Northwestern continued to exploit Lehighton turnovers and stretched the advantage to 48-33 by halftime.

“One of the things we had talked about was that we had to limit our turnovers to avoid their transition points. Right from the start they were forcing turnovers and built up that 15-point lead and from there, they’re just really good offensively and we couldn’t get back into the game,” said Indians head coach Trevor Miller.

Another strong point for Northwestern this season has been making defensive adjustments to shut down opposing offenses.

Coming out in the third quarter, Roth found himself being guarded more closely as the Tigers looked to prevent him from carrying the Tribe. The plan worked and Roth was held to just eight points over the final two quarters.

The Tigers looked to push their lead to 30 points to put the running clock into play, but Lehighton continued to battle. With 5:56 left in the final quarter, Nelson drove the lane and got the basket and picked up the foul. Nelson sank the free throw to put Northwestern up 76-44 to keep the clock rolling the rest of the game.

“Our confidence just keeps building, and we are working really well together,” said Nelson of the team’s approach coming down the final stretch of the regular season. “We’re going to keep building off these huge wins like tonight; building confidence and building momentum. That’s going to help us once the postseason gets here.”

LOVE THOSE FREEBIES … In its last five games, Northwestern is 59-of-79 (76 percent) from the free throw line. During that stretch, Nelson has hit 26-of-30 foul shots for an .867 percentage. As a team, Northwestern is shooting 67 percent on free throws.

PLAYOFF PICTURE … With the win, its ninth in a row, Northwestern moved a half game ahead of Notre Dame of Green Pond for the top spot in the Colonial League, although the Crusaders have played one less game. Eight teams make the postseason, and Lehighton is currently sixth and share a 9-6 mark with Salisbury.

LEHIGHTON

Light 0-0-0-0, Meek 2-2-2-7, Fairchild 0-0-0-0, Roberts 6-2-3-16, Roth 8-6-10-24, Dietz 3-2-4-9, Solt 0-3-4-3, White 0-0-0-0, Blair 0-0-0-0, Kalbach 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 19-15-23-59.

NORTHWESTERN

Krimmel 2-0-0-5, Bollinger 4-1-1-10, E. Zimmerman 3-2-2-9, Nelson 13-4-5-30, Marth 5-0-0-11, Wambold 1-0-0-2, Fitch 2-0-0-5, B. Zimmerman 2-0-0-5, Coleman 1-1-4-4, Lagowy 0-0-0-0, Berk 1-0-0-2, Fitzgerald 1-0-0-2, Wertman 0-0-0-0, Moyer 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 35-8-12-85.

Lehighton 17 16 11 15 - 59

Northwestern 26 22 23 14 - 85

Three-pointers: Lehighton - Roberts 2, Roth 2, Dietz 1, Meek 1; Northwestern - E. Zimmerman 1, Bollinger 1, B. Zimmerman 1, Coleman 1, Marth 1, Krimmel 1, Fitch 1.

Records: Lehighton (13-6; 9-6); Northwestern (17-2; 14-1).