BETHLEHEM, Pa. - The #5 ranked Northampton Men's Basketball team fell short in a heavyweight battle on Thursday evening against the #1 ranked and unbeaten Salem Community College Mighty Oaks, 99-84, in front of a packed crowd at the Arthur L. Scott Center.

Both teams exchanged blows from the opening tip of the first half and traded leads right up until the :38 second mark when the Mighty Oaks broke a 39-39 deadlock with four quick points to carry a 43-39 edge over the Spartans into the intermission. The battle continued into the second half with Salem able to hold the advantage, methodically adding to their lead over the Spartans and eventually extending the margin to 81-66 with just 6:06 remaining in the game. The Spartans were unable to close the gap and the Mighty Oaks were able to pull away down the stretch for the victory.

"Hard fought battle tonight," explained Spartans Head Coach Brennan McCarthy, "Give Salem credit. They came in tonight and played us tough and we fell short. We will put this behind us and get ready to get back on the floor Saturday. We have a lot of season left to play and we will pick ourselves up and keep working towards our goals."

Sophomore guard Kevin Rucker (Philadelphia, PA/Monsignor Bonner Prendergast) led the Spartans with 19 points along with 4 rebounds and 3 steals. Jahad Marable (Philadelphia, PA/Science Leadership Academy - Beeber) and Aiden Brown (Philadelphia, PA/Math Civic and Science Charter) both had a double-double in the loss. Marable scored 17 points with 11 rebounds and Brown scored 17 points with 10 boards and 2 steals. Terrence Cobb (Chester, PA/STEM Academy) scored 7 points and grabbed 6 rebounds along with 3 assists. Sophomore Lamaj Mapp (Darby, PA/Penn Wood High School) scored 9 points off the bench with 6 rebounds and 2 blocks. Sebastian Fermin (East Stroudsburg, PA/Pocono Mountain East High School) scored 6 points.

The Spartans are now 15-2 overall and 9-1 in Region 19 following the loss.

Salem improves to 20-0 overall and 7-0 in the Region.

Northampton will look to regroup this weekend when they travel to Harrisburg to take on the Hawks in a Region 19 matchup at 1pm at the JW Evans PE Center.