Last week’s showdown between Salisbury and Notre Dame (Green Pond) will likely determine the top seed for the upcoming Colonial League boys basketball playoffs.

The Crusaders picked up a 56-50 win and lead the Falcons by one and a half games with five games remaining.

The Falcons (15-2 overall, 11-2 Colonial League) do not face Notre Dame again in the regular season and will need help to catch the Crusaders (14-2, 12-0).

The 50-point plateau is a solid guide for Salisbury this season.

When the Falcons score 50 or more points they are 11-1. The only loss on that record came against the Crusaders.

Julian Makhoul scored a game-high 22 points for Salisbury to match his season high. Steven Lozada helped Salisbury with 11 points in the loss, but Justin Manning, Cody Driscoll and Drew Boyd all scored in double figures for Notre Dame. Manning led the team with 18. Driscoll had 14 and Boyd finished with 10.

Salisbury was back on the court last Friday night and beat Wilson 68-46. Lozada led all scorers with 18 points. Makhoul finished with 14 and Garrett Leiner added 11 for Salisbury.

The Falcons exploded for 23 second quarter points to take a 31-17 lead into halftime. Wilson’s offense came alive in the second half, but Salisbury continued to put points on the board as well and outscored the Warriors 22-14 over the final eight minutes to get the win.

Salisbury hosts Saucon Valley Wednesday. The Falcons lost four games to the Panthers last season, including two in the postseason. They beat Saucon 42-30 in their first meeting of the season on Jan. 8. The Falcons play at Catasauqua on Friday before traveling to Pen Argyl on Monday.

The regular season ends next week with the final road game Wednesday at Southern Lehigh and the home finale Friday against Palisades.

The Falcons are battling Northwestern Lehigh for the number two spot in the league standings. Salisbury downed the Tigers earlier this season to hold the tiebreaker.

For district seeding, Salisbury currently holds the top spot in the 4A classification with Allentown Central Catholic and Northwestern both still having a shot at knocking Salisbury out of the top spot. League champs move to the top of the rankings.