Box Score TOMS RIVER, NJ - The Northampton men's basketball team dropped a non-conference match-up on Thursday evening, falling to Ocean County College, 72-69, in a tightly contested battle at Cohen Hall.

For 37 minutes it looked like the Northampton men's basketball team would leave Toms River with a hard-fought Region XIX victory ... unfortunately for Coach Brennan McCarthy and the Spartans, games are 40 minutes long. Northampton led by 3 with 3 minutes to play, but poor free throw shooting and a clutch 3-pointer from Ocean's Dieon Utrera with 45 seconds remaining spelled doom for the Spartans. "Our effort and execution for the first 37 minutes was terrific," remarked McCarthy, "unfortunately we were not able to make the big play(s) down the stretch that we needed to earn the win. Give Ocean credit, they battled all night and never quit."

Juan Perez-Jones (Morrisville, PA /Pennsbury ) led Northampton with 18 points and Tyerell Mann (East Stroudsburg, PA /Notre Dame - East Stroudsburg ) added 15, while Justin Kusiappouh (East Stroudsburg, PA /East Stroudsburg North ) had 7 rebounds and 4 assists.

The loss drops Northampton to 8-10 overall and 6-10 in Region XIX.

Ocean inproves to 8-11 overall and 8-9 in Region XIX.

The men's game scheduled for Saturday vs. Stevens College has been postponed due to the severe weather predicted for the area. The game has been rescheduled for February 11th at 7pm.

The Spartans will return to action on Tuesday January 26th when they travel to Harrisburg, PA to face EPAC rival Harrisburg Area Community College.