It was senior night for Northwestern and Catasauqua head coach Eric Snyder expected to see all the Tigers’ graduating members.

What he wasn’t expecting - their production.

Northwestern started all five of its seniors and they exceeded expectations to upset Catasauqua as the Rough Riders fell to the Tigers, 77-72, on Tuesday night at Northwestern Lehigh High School.

“Those seniors stepped up,” Snyder said, lauding Northwestern’s outgoing members. “They played most of the game and they did a tremendous job. They wanted to win. They were aggressive, they were physical, and they believed in themselves.”

Catasauqua (8-12 overall, 8-10 Colonial League) trailed 10-9 after the first quarter of play and continued to play from behind for most of the second period, but finished the half on a 7-0 scoring run, which gave the Roughies a 27-26 advantage at the break.

“We started running the ball a little bit,” Snyder said about the scoring streak. “We connected on a few shots and I thought it would carry over, [but it didn’t].”

The two teams battled back-and-forth in the third quarter as there were seven lead changes in the eight-minute period. Despite the action-packed quarter, the Rough Riders still led 53-51.

The final frame beckoned the loudest noises from the already enthusiastic crowd in New Tripoli as this game came down to the final seconds. Catty’s Isaiah Graves scored two to tie the game at 72 with 1:22 left, but then each team traded empty possessions which left the game still knotted up with 28 seconds remaining.

With 6.8 seconds left in the game, Northwestern senior Ryan Hippensteel drained a three-pointer from the right-wing which gave the Tigers a 75-72 lead and prompted a Catty timeout.

On the Rough Riders’ ensuing possession, Northwestern fouled before freshman Jaylen Green could fire off a shot. He made one of his two foul shots, which made it 75-73 with 2.6 seconds remaining. Catasauqua fouled Northwestern senior Trevor Cunningham on the next inbounds pass, but Cunningham connected on both of his free throws, ensuring the victory for the Tigers.

“We gave them 51 points in the second half. We didn’t play good enough defense,” Snyder said. “We missed some foul shots down the stretch [too]. This is the third buzzer beater, if you want to call it that, that has beaten us in the last three weeks. We haven’t learned from our mistakes. We don’t close out well enough. That sense of urgency isn’t there.”

Graves led the Catty attack with a team-high 26 points. Green accounted for 17 markers while senior Colin Hawk chipped in 11.

The Rough Riders played Notre Dame East Stroudsburg on Wednesday night (after Press deadline) to close out the regular season. The team qualified for the District 11 playoffs, but have a while until it takes the court for the opening game. With the up and down regular season, Snyder wasn’t confident his team would be playoff bound by season’s end.

“I wasn’t sure, to be honest,” he said. “We played well in stretches, but when we had to come up big at the end here, we didn’t. We had nice stretches. We won three in a row then had to do our part against Moravian and couldn’t. Then again here. We didn’t play well enough for long enough for my satisfaction this year. We just weren’t consistent.”

Catasauqua’s first district playoff game will be on Feb. 25, according to Snyder.