BETHLEHEM, Pa. - The nationally ranked Northampton Men's Basketball team put forward a dominating effort to down visiting Community College of Philadelphia in a Region 19 tilt, 77-43, on Tuesday evening at the Arthur L. Scott Center.

The 6th ranked Spartans turned the tables on the Lions, avenging a 69-67 non-conference loss on December 16th that marked the Spartans first defeat of the season prior to the recent holiday break.

"Real strong and balanced effort tonight on the floor," stated Spartans Head Coach Brennan McCarthy, "We anticipated another battle and our guys just came out with a purpose and set the tone for the game right from the opening tip. We jumped out early and we just rode the momentum tonight. Good strong Region win."

The Spartans jumped out to an 18-3 lead just 10 minutes into the first half and rolled into the intermission with a 37-20 edge over the visiting Lions. The Spartans never looked back, extending their lead to as many as 40 points in the second half, 70-30, with just 6 minutes remaining, coasting the rest of the way for the Region 19 win.

Sophomore guard Jahad Marable (Philadelphia, PA/Science Leadership Academy - Beeber) scored 17 points, shooting 7-15 from the floor and 2-2 from three point range, to lead the Spartans offense. Kevin Rucker (Philadelphia, PA/Monsignor Bonner Prendergast) added 13 points and 9 rebounds and Julian Bair (Harrisburg, PA/Harrisburg High School) scored 12 points with 7 boards and 2 assists. Bair was 5-6 shooting from the floor. Mekhi Shillingford (Philadelphia, PA/Penn Wood High School) scored 7 points and recorded 5 blocks while grabbing 4 rebounds. Aiden Brown (Philadelphia, PA/Math Civic and Science Charter) scored 8 points with 6 rebounds and Lamaj Mapp (Darby, PA/Penn Wood High School) and Ermil Fleurinvil (Reading, PA/Downey Christian School) contributed 8 points apiece off the bench.

Northampton improves to 16-2 overall and 10-1 in Region 19 with the victory over the Lions.

Community College of Philadephia falls to 7-9 overall and 2-9 in the Region.

The Spartans are back in action this Thursday, January 22nd when they travel to Harrisburg Area Community College to take on the Hawks at 6pm at the JW Evans PE Center. This game is a rescheduled contest from Saturday, January 17th due to the weather and poor road conditions this past weekend.