NANTICOKE, Pa. - The nationally ranked Northampton Men's Basketball team bounced back from their first loss of the season, rolling behind a 26 point effort from sophomore Kevin Rucker (Philadelphia, PA/Monsignor Bonner Prendergast), taking down Luzerne County Community College in a non-conference tilt, 80-70, on Thursday night at the James T. Atherton Gymnasium.

The Spartans jumped out to a 15 point lead after the first half, 43-28, and continued the strong play through the final 20 minutes to take down the Trailblazers. The win wraps up the first half of the season for the Spartans, who go into the holiday break ranked # 2 in the most recent NJCAA national poll and with an impressive 13-1 mark to start the season.

"Good way to end the first half of our season as we head into the holidays," commented Spartans Head Coach Brennan McCarthy, "I was pleased with how we hit the floor tonight coming off a tough loss. We came out and took care of business. Quality effort on the stat line and felt we were strong top to bottom. This was a good bounce back effort tonight."

The Spartans were led by sophomore guard Kevin Rucker (Philadelphia, PA/Monsignor Bonner Prendergast) who hit for a game-high 26 points with 4 rebounds and 3 assists. Rucker hit three three-point baskets and was also 5-6 from the free throw line. Forward Aiden Brown (Philadelphia, PA/Math Civic and Science Charter) scored 16 points, hitting 8-13 (62%) from the floor, while grabbing 7 rebounds. Guard Jahad Marable (Philadelphia, PA/Science Leadership Academy - Beeber) scored 14 points with 4 steals and 6 rebounds and Mekhi Shillingford (Philadelphia, PA/Penn Wood High School) added 12 points with 9 rebounds plus 4 blocks in the win.

The Spartans improve to 13-1 overall with the non-conference victory.

The Trailblazers slip to 3-10 with the loss.

Northampton will be back on the floor following the break on Saturday, January 10th when they travel to Newton, NJ to take on Sussex County Community College at 2pm at the Skylander Arena.