SCHNECKSVILLE, Pa. - Brent Maron scored a career-high 35 points as the Northampton men's basketball team advanced to the Region XIX quarterfinals with an 88-76 opening round victory over Lehigh Carbon Community College at Berrier Hall on Saturday afternoon.

Northampton, the #9 seed, fell behind early but used a late run fueled by Maron, who finished 7 of 8 from 3-point range, to take a 46-34 halftime lead over the 8th seeded Cougars.

The Spartans pushed their lead to 68-51 with 9:07 remaining in the game, but LCCC went on a 12-0 run, behind Conference Player of the Year Frank DeJesus, to cut the deficit to 5 at 68-63 with 6:25 remaining. 

After a Northampton timeout, Maron hit a 3-pointer to push the lead back to 71-63 and then Malcolm Lyles scored 7 of his 19 points during a 10-2 run to push NCC to a 78-65 advantage with 3 minutes remaining.  

Maron then clinched the game from the free throw line (10 for 14) down the stretch, helping Northampton advance to a quarterfinal matchup at #1 Brookdale Community College (26-1) on Tuesday night at 7pm.

Tyler Krchnavi had 9 points and 14 rebounds and Astin Jones added 4 assists for Northampton.

Northampton improves to 14-12 overall with the victory, while Lehigh Carbon finishes the season at 13-11.

BOX SCORE

Team	1st Half	2nd Half	OT	Final Score
#9 Northampton (14-12)	46	42		88
#8 Lehigh Carbon (13-11)	34	42		76