Jim Thorpe let one lead slip away against Northern Lehigh this season.

It made sure it wasn’t going to happen a second time.

The Bulldogs, who erased a double-digit deficit against the Olympians a week and a half ago to eventually pull out an overtime win, looked determined to do it again during Friday night’s Colonial League contest.

But Thorpe had other ideas.

It held off a late charge by the home team by spreading the floor, protecting the ball and hitting key free throws down the stretch to leave Slatington with a 62-53 victory.

“We took a big punch in the fourth quarter here,” said Olympian head coach Brian O’Donnell. “Northern Lehigh came out and hit a couple threes and a couple jumpers and they cut it to (seven), but we weathered the pressure. Coach (Fahler) has them playing well. They don’t die.

“I was proud of the way we handled the fourth quarter. There were a couple highs there and a couple lows. But at the end of the day, we knocked down some late foul shots down, which has been an Achilles heel for the most part for us this year, so I’m just happy that we finished this one out.”

Thanks to a 7-0 run to end the third quarter, which included inside buckets from Brody Schrantz, Pierce Gothard and Aaron Curran, Thorpe took a 15-point advantage into the final quarter.

But the Bulldogs, who were 0-of-10 from three-point range in the first half, connected on three shots from distance — two by Zaid Salih — in the first three minutes of the final frame to whittle the margin to 54-47 with plenty of time left.

O’Donnell’s club, though, didn’t crack under pressure.

The Olympians slowed the pace, working for either a good shot — which that got from Cole Lazorick in the paint with 2:21 to play — or forcing Northern Lehigh to come out and foul, which it eventually had to do.

Thorpe converted on six shots at the line, four of them by Gothard, to seal the win.

“They were kind of spreading us out and looking to attack the paint,” said O’Donnell of Nolehi’s late-game push. “They hit a lot of tough shots. A couple guys that we weren’t really trying to key on played very big for them. (Salih) hit some threes and had about eight points in a minute and a half, so they had role guy step up for them and play really big.

“But it was key that we came out and responded. Every time they had a scoring run, we kind of had an answer for them. In some of our losses, we’d give up baskets and then we wouldn’t get anything at the offensive end. Tonight, we did a good job of not letting that affect us, not falling behind, and keeping that distance between the two of us.”

Thorpe gained that distance rather early, and played in front the whole way.

Brody Schrantz hit two treys to start the game to give the visitors a 6-0 start, and then ended the period with another hit from beyond the arc to make it 15-6.

“(Jim Thorpe) shot pretty well tonight,” said Bulldog mentor Bob Fahler. “I actually thought our kids played pretty good defense, but they made shots. Their first two shots of the game were threes and we were down 6-0 right off the bat.

“We struggled shooting, and that’s kind of been an Achilles’ heel all season. Our shooting percentage just isn’t where you’d like it to be. And a big part of the game is you have to put the ball in the basket ... Bu we did battle back.”

LEADING SCORERS ... Gothard netted a game-high 20 points for the winners, 13 of them coming in the second half. Schrantz finished with 18, with 11 of his in the opening half. Curran added 12, while Lazorick nearly had a double-double with nine points and 10 rebounds. For Northern Lehigh, Kellen Bauer led the way with 18 points. Connor Simms contrinuted 15 , while Salih ended with a season-high 10.

SENIOR NIGHT ... The Bulldogs honored Simms, the team’s only upperclassman, on Senior Night.

ONE TO GO ... Both teams have just one regular season game remaining. Thorpe travels to Lehighton on Tuesday, while Nolehi plays at Palmerton the same evening.

JIM THORPE

P. Gothard 7-4-4-20, Curran 4-3-4-12, Lazorick 4-1-3-9, Antignani 0-0-0-0, Schrantz 6-3-6-18, Moore 1-0-0-3. TOTALS: 22-11-17-62.

NORTHERN LEHIGH

Smith 2-0-0-4, Simms 7-0-0-15, Bauer 6-4-5-18, Salih 4-0-0-10, Daubert 0-0-0-0, Karetsky 3-0-0-6, LoPinto 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 22-4-5-53.

Jim Thorpe 15 15 17 15 - 62

Northern Lehigh 9 8 15 21 - 53

Three-pointers: Jim Thorpe - Schrantz 3, P. Gothard 2, Curran 1, Moore 1; Northern Lehigh - Bauer 2, Salih 2, Simms 1.

Records: Jim Thorpe (5-16; 4-13); Northern Lehigh (4-17; 4-13).