BETHLEHEM, Pa. - The Northampton men's basketball team claimed the 2017 Northampton Tip-Off Tournament Championship with an 87-81 victory over Cumberland County College on Saturday evening at the Arthur L. Scott Center. 

Freshman Arnel Lewis (Easton, Pa. /Easton) scored 20 points and earned Tournament MVP honors, while Isiah Hinton-Gray (Allentown, Pa./William Allen ) recorded his third straight double-double with 16 points and 10 boards to earn All Tournament honors, as the Spartans improved to 3-0. 

Northampton jumped out to a 22-point lead in the first half and led by 16 at intermission, at 47-31. 

Cumberland was able to inch their way back in the second half, cutting the margin to 5 with 3:37 remaining, at 69-64, but the Spartans were able to keep them at bay.  The Dukes got to within 4 at 82-78 with 48 seconds remaining, but Hinton-Gray converted 3 of 4 free throws to seal the victory. 

Carlos Gutierrez (Allentown, Pa./William Allen ) led Northampton with 22 points on 7 of 11 shooting from the field, including 7 of 9 from distance.  

The Spartans shot 50.8% from the field and out-rebounded the Dukes 47-36. 

Northampton is now off until November 11th when they travel to Camden County College to face the Cougars at 2:00pm.