BETHLEHEM, Pa. - The Northampton Men's Basketball team rallied past visiting Atlantic Cape on Tuesday evening to pick up a 72-67 non-conference victory at the Arthur L. Scott Center.

The nationally ranked Spartans, playing from behind and trailing by as many 12 points early in the contest, went on a spirited 13-3 run just before the end of the first half to cut the Buccaneers lead to 33-31 at the intermission. The Spartans were finally able to catch the Buccaneers with 6 minutes remaining in the contest as they took a 53-52 lead and carried the lead the rest of the way for the hard fought win.

"We got off to a slow start and we needed to fight our way out of it," explained Spartans Head Coach Brennan McCarthy, "The late rally at the end of the first half got us back into the game and I felt we were able to carry that momentum into the second half. We found our rhythm and felt we finished strong in the second half to pick up the win."

Sophomore Kevin Rucker (Philadelphia, PA/Monsignor Bonner Prendergast) led the Spartans with 26 points to pace the offense. Rucker was 15-18 from the free throw line and also had 3 steals. Guard Terrence Cobb (Chester, PA/STEM Academy) scored 16 points with 8 rebounds and 6 assists and Anniel Pichardo (Reading, PA/Downey Christian School) added 9 points. Sihaaj Johnson (Philadelphia, PA/Simon Gratz) scored 6 points with 4 assists and 3 steals. Sophomore Lamaj Mapp (Darby, PA/Penn Wood High School) grabbed a team-high 11 rebounds.

Northampton improves to 15-1 overall with the win over the Buccaneers. The Region contest between both teams will take place on Saturday, February 7th at 2pm in Mays Landing, New Jersey.

Atlantic Cape slips to 6-9 overall.

The 5th ranked Spartans are back on the floor this Thursday when the host the #1 ranked Mighty Oakes of Salem Community College in a Top 5 showdown at 7pm at the Arthur L. Scott Center.