It’s a common phrase in the sports world — it’s not how you start, but how you finish.

Northwestern found itself in some unchartered territory Friday night in the quarterfinal round of the Colonial League playoffs against Wilson.

The Warriors slowed the pace down offensively and hit some big three-pointers early on to build a surprising 16-point advantage midway through the second quarter.

But a senior-laden Tiger squad, which hasn’t faced a deficit like that during the season, didn’t panic. The second-seeded club relied on its defense and its leaders to chip away at the advantage before a late fourth-quarter run resulted in a hard-fought 66-62 victory.

The comeback propels Northwestern into Monday’s semifinals, where it will face Saucon Valley.

“It was one of those things where I just kept waiting for us to get that stop and get that bucket, and then all of a sudden I look up and we’re down 16,” said Tiger head coach Patrick Wanamaker. “I told the guys we are a veteran team for the first time in a long time ... we finally have guys with experience that can play through those moments and overcome those moments. It took us until the last 50 seconds tonight, but we were able to do that.

“They took us out of what we like to do in the beginning. They made it a halfcourt game and we had to adjust, and it took us a really long time to adjust ... I told them in the fourth quarter that we had to ride the wave. We talk about that a lot. Take their punches and stand up and punch back. Fortunately tonight, we were the ones that threw the last haymaker.”

It looked like the Warriors delivered an early knockout the way the contest started.

The visitors — seeded seventh — were patient on offense, hit their first four three-pointers and forced the Tigers into numerous turnovers to open up a 26-10 lead with 4:10 left in the second quarter.

Northwestern’s scoring leader Gavin Nelson, however, stepped up to keep his team in the game.

The senior poured in 10 points — six on a pair of threes — the rest of the quarter to pull the Tigers within 31-26.

“Gavin is that scoring leader for us,” said Wanamaker. “He has been all year. He was last year, and we kind of go offensively as he goes. He hit some big shots in the second quarter to allow us to stay within striking distance.”

While Northwestern was back to playing its game, applying pressure defense to force easy baskets, Wilson just wouldn’t go away. When the Tigers used a spurt to close the gap or eventually go ahead, the Warriors would respond.

A steal with just over two minutes to go in the third quarter led to an Eli Zimmerman layup and Northwestern’s first advantage at 41-40, but three-pointers from Zyad Darwish and Cole Shotko put the Warriors back in front entering the final frame.

“A little bit of alligator blood in those guys,” said Wanamaker about Wilson’s players. “Every time we got it close or even a lead, they hit a big shot. That’s a credit to those guys. They’re very well-coached, very structured and very disciplined.”

The Tigers are no slouches either, especially their senior leaders.

After Marquis Acree hit a pair of driving buckets during a stretch that put Wilson back on top 59-55 with 3:46 left in regulation, the Tigers defense rose to the occasion. They forced four consecutive turnovers, which resulted in points at the other end.

First, Shane Marth converted on a three-point play to pull the hosts within one. Zimmerman was then undercut driving to the basket and took a nasty fall, but picked himself up and hit two clutch free throws. A steal by Brady Krimmel moments later resulted in a Mason Bollinger bucket inside, and Zimmerman and Nelson both added a pair of free throws to complete an 11-0 run that resulted in the win.

“We created turnovers to get some easy points and get to the line, and we work on free throws at every practice,” said Zimmerman, who scored 13 of his 18 points in the second half and went a perfect 8-of-8 at the foul line. “You need them when they count, so that’s why we shoot them.

“Coach emphasized this week that wins are not easy to come by now. Whatever it is, if it’s an ugly win, a close win, a blowout win, it doesn’t matter. Wins in this league are very tough, and whatever we had to do to get it done tonight is what we had to do, and we did our jobs.”

THREE AMIGOS ... Nelson, Zimmerman and Marth accounted for 57 of the team’s 66 points. Nelson had a game-high 22, which included 14 in the second period. Marth also added 10 rebounds and a pair of blocked shots.

FOUL TROUBLE ... With a three-man officiating crew, there were a number of fouls called. Wilson starter Lafayette Acree picked up four fouls in the first half, and his playing time was limited the rest of the game. The Tigers’ Nelson finished with four fouls, as well.

WILSON

L. Acree 3-3-4-12, M. Acree 4-3-5-11, Singleton 2-6-6-10, Shotko 3-0-0-8, Darwish 6-0-0-16, Cressman 1-1-1-3, Durandisse 1-0-0-2. TOTALS: 20-13-16-62.

NORTHWESTERN

Krimmel 0-1-2-1, Bollinger 3-1-2-7, E. Zimmerman 4-8-8-18, Nelson 8-4-6-22, Marth 7-2-2-17, Wambold 0-0-0-0, Fitch 0-0-0-0, B. Zimmerman 0-1-2-1, Coleman 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 22-17-22-66.

Wilson 16 15 17 14 - 62

Northwestern 6 20 21 19 - 66

Three-pointers: Wilson - Darwish 4, L. Acree 3, Shotko 2; Northwestern - E. Zimmerman 2, Nelson 2, Marth 1.

Records: Wilson (15-8); Northwestern (21-2).