BLUE BELL, Pa. - The Northampton men's basketball team, forced to play with just nine players in uniform, dropped a non-conference road tilt with Montgomery County Community College, 81-61, on Thursday evening at the Health Sciences Center.

The Spartans, ranked 8th in the most recent NJCAA national poll, fell behind 35-23 at the half, and never got going against the #9 Mustangs. The Spartans took the Region 19 match-up against the two teams with a, 76-74, victory on Thursday, December 11th at the Arthur L. Scott Center.

"Tough one tonight," explained Spartans Head Coach Brennan McCarthy, "You never want to be on this end of it but you also have to be able to keep it in perspective as well. Two good teams tonight and we just fell short. I still like where we are and we will push through and look to finish the regular season strong and get ready for the playoffs. It really is that simple."

Sophomore guard Jahad Marable (Philadelphia, PA/Science Leadership Academy - Beeber) led the Spartans with 13 points while freshman point guard Sihaaj Johnson (Philadelphia, PA/Simon Gratz) had a season high 11 points in the loss. Anniel Pichardo (Reading, PA/Downey Christian School), Sebastian Fermin (East Stroudsburg, PA/Pocono Mountain East High School) and Lamaj Mapp (Darby, PA/Penn Wood High School) each scored 8 points.

Northampton falls to 22-4 overall with the loss. Montgomery improves to 18-4.

The Spartans are back on the floor this Saturday when they travel to Blackwood, New Jersey to take on Camden County College at 12pm at the Joseph Papiano Gymnasium.