PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - The nationally ranked and undefeated Northampton Men's Basketball team saw their 12-game winning streak come to an end on Tuesday evening, losing a hard fought non-conference matchup to the Community College of Philadelphia, 69-67, at the Lions Den.

The Spartans, who climbed to #2 in the NJCAA national rankings this week, never got on track in this one and found themselves trailing at the half, 30-26. The Spartans and Lions went back and fourth the entire second half, but the Spartans just couldn't close the gap on the Lions. A handful of missed free throws down the stretch kept the Spartans from grabbing the momentum and lead as time ticked away. The Spartans had 22 missed free throws in the loss.

"Tough game and missed opportunities," stated Spartans Head Coach Brennan McCarthy. "Give Philadelphia credit. Tough team and they played us hard but we had our chances down the stretch and at the free throw line and it just didn't go in our favor tonight. We will head home and get ready to wrap up the first half of the season at Luzerne on Thursday. Frustrating night but we will be fine."

Sophomore Kevin Rucker (Philadelphia, PA/Monsignor Bonner Prendergast) led the Spartans with 22 points while forward Aiden Brown (Philadelphia, PA/Math Civic and Science Charter) added 16 points to pace the offense. Sophomore guard Jahad Marable (Philadelphia, PA/Science Leadership Academy - Beeber) scored 11 points and point guard Terrence Cobb (Chester, PA/STEM Academy) had 7 points in the loss.

The Spartans are now 12-1 overall following the non-conference loss. The Region matchup between the two teams will take place on Tuesday, January 20th at the Arthur L. Scott Center at 7pm.

The Lions improve to 6-8 overall.

The Spartans conclude the first half of the season on Thursday, December 18th when they travel to Nanticoke to take on Luzerne at 6pm at the James T. Atherton Gymnasium.