SEWELL, NJ - In a showdown of two of the top men's basketball teams in Region XIX, the game lived up to the hype, as RCGC escaped with a thrilling 91-89 victory over the Spartans at the Case Center on Thursday evening.
The Spartans, who trailed by 13 with 9:51 remaining in the game, took their first lead of the second half with 1:30 remaining when
Jay Davis (Northwest, Pa./Hatboro-Horsham) converted a 3-point play to put Northampton up 86-84.
The Roadrunners responded with a 3-pointer with 45.9 seconds remaining to take an 87-86 lead.
Elijah Barrett (Harrisburg, Pa. /Harrisburg) made one of two free throws to tie the game at 87, before RCGC knocked down two free throws of their own to regain the lead at 89-87.
Isiah Hinton-Gray (Allentown, Pa./William Allen ) scored on a tip-in with 15 seconds left to tie the game at 89.
RCGC then called timeout to set up their final play. The Roadrunners in-bounded the ball with 9.2 seconds remaining in the game when a foul was called on the sideline in front of the RCGC bench. Na'Quan McPherson then sank two free throws to give the Roadrunners a 91-89 lead with 4 seconds remaining.
Jay Davis (Northwest, Pa./Hatboro-Horsham)' jumper from in the lane bounced out at the buzzer to give RCGC the 91-89 victory.
Hinton-Gray finished with 22 points and 11 rebounds to lead Northampton, while
Jay Davis (Northwest, Pa./Hatboro-Horsham) added 20,
Carlos Gutierrez (Allentown, Pa./William Allen ) 16 and
Elijah Barrett (Harrisburg, Pa. /Harrisburg) 13.
The Spartans, ranked #2 by the ECBWA, shot 50% from the field, but only managed to convert 3 of 19 attempts from 3-point range.
RCGC, ranked 4th in the latest ECBWA rankings, finished 33 of 65 from the floor (51%) and converted 6 of 16 attempts from distance.
Arnel Lewis (Easton, Pa. /Easton) finished with 10 points, 7 boards and 12 assists for the Spartans, who saw their 7-game winning streak snapped.
Northampton falls to 17-3 overall and 13-2 in Region XIX.
RCGC improves to 22-4 overall and 17-3 in Region XIX.
The Spartans have a non-conference matchup on Saturday as they travel to Ulster County Community College for a 1pm game.
