BETHLEHEM, Pa. - The nationally-ranked Northampton men's basketball team needed all 40 minutes on Tuesday evening to slip past a pesky Harrisburg squad, outscoring the Hawks 10 to 3 over the last 2:43 to pull out a 79-77 victory at the Arthur L. Scott Center.
The Spartans spotted Harrisburg a 13-0 lead in the first half, before
Carlos Gutierrez (Allentown, Pa./William Allen ) finally converted a free throw at the 14:51 mark to give Northampton its first points of the night.
Northampton was able to battle back to cut the deficit to 35-32 at halftime.
The Spartans led by as many as 8 in the second half, before the Hawks made another run, eventually going up 5 with the aforementioned 2:43 to play.
Arnel Lewis (Easton, Pa. /Easton) hit a 3-pointer with 2:28 remaining to cut the margin to 74-72, and
Elijah Barrett (Harrisburg, Pa. /Harrisburg) then tied the score at 74 with a steal and layup with 1:12 on the clock.
Lewis (13 points, 8 assists) converted a layup with 22 seconds remaining to give Northampton a 76-74 lead, and then converted two clutch free throws with 6 seconds left to increase the lead to 78-74.
Sean Smith banked in a long 3-pointer for Harrisburg with 1 second left to cut the margin to 78-77, but
Isiah Hinton-Gray (Allentown, Pa./William Allen ) sealed the win with a free throw to make the final 79-77.
Hinton-Gray led five scorers in double-figures with 21 points and added 14 rebounds, while
Jay Davis (Northwest, Pa./Hatboro-Horsham) finished with 15, Gutierrez 14 and Barrett 10 points and 10 boards.
The Spartans shot 47% on the night (30/64), while holding the Hawks to just 36% (24/67).
"Harrisburg is a good team," remarked Head Coach
Brennan McCarthy, "they have given us two great battles this year ... they scrap and fight and they can shoot it ... they will be a tough match-up for someone in the first round of regionals."
Northampton improves to 17-2 overall, 13-1 in Region XIX and 11-1 in the EPAC.
Harrisburg falls to 12-9 overall, 10-3 in the Region and 10-3 in conference play.
The Spartans hit the road on Thursday when they travel to Rowan College @ Gloucester County to face the Roadrunners at 7pm.
