SEWELL, NJ - The NCC men's basketball team advanced to the championship game of the Gloucester County College Roadrunner Holiday Classic with an 83-74 victory over the host team on Friday night.

Josh Vargas scored 27 points and grabbed 7 rebounds and Ike Robinson added 20 points and 7 boards to lead NCC.

"One of our better all-around efforts of the year," remarked Head Coach Kevin Foley, "I thought we did a good job defensively and stayed focused for 40 minutes."

Gloucester and NCC were tied at 37 with 4 minutes remaining in first half when the Spartans went on a 13-0 run to take a 50-37 lead into the locker room.  "Obviously that was a huge momentum swing for us heading into halftime," commented Foley, "it really allowed us to take the crowd out of the game."

Ralph Padilla added 11 points and 6 rebounds for Northampton which improved to 6-3 overall and 3-1 in Region XIX.  (note: this game also counted in the Region XIX conference standings).

The Spartans will face NJCAA Division II Burlington County College in the championship game on Saturday at 3:00 pm.