LINCROFT, NJ - The nationally ranked Northampton Men's Basketball team picked up a hard fought road victory over host Brookdale Community College, 73-67, in a Region 19 battle of top teams on Thursday evening at the Collins Arena.

The Spartans, ranked 10th in the most recent NJCAA national poll, weathered through a back and fourth first half of Basketball between the two Region 19 heavyweights. The Jersey Blues, Receiving Votes in the NJCAA national poll, entered the match-up on a 4 game win streak and had recently upended #1 ranked Salem Community College, setting the stage for the Thursday night Region 19 showdown. Ten minutes into the first half, Brookdale held a 22-21 edge and 5 minutes later the Spartans turned the tide and took a 29-27 advantage. Both teams continued to trade blows in an exciting first half of Basketball and the Spartans were able to duck into the locker room with a 38-37 lead at the intermission.

Five minutes into the second half the Spartans held the lead, 47-45, and slowly started to extend the advantage to 56-47 over the Jersey Blues with just 10 minutes left in the contest. The Spartans were able to start to pull away and held a firm 64-55 edge with just 5 minutes left in the match up. With 1 minute remaining, Jahad Marable (Philadelphia, PA/Science Leadership Academy - Beeber) hit on an inside layup to put the Spartans up, 70-64, and a pair of free throws by Terrence Cobb (Chester, PA/STEM Academy) with just under 10 seconds to play put the game out of reach, securing the road victory for the Spartans.

"Great game tonight," commented Spartans Head Coach Brennan McCarthy, "Give our guys credit. This is a tough place to come and play and we took care of what we needed to do. Brookdale is a very good team and we expected a battle tonight. It was a hard fought game on both ends and we did enough to come out on top. This was a good test for what we have coming down the road."

Northampton was led by sophomore guard Kevin Rucker (Philadelphia, PA/Monsignor Bonner Prendergast) who hit for 31 points to lead the offensive charge for the Spartans. Point Guard Terrence Cobb (Chester, PA/STEM Academy) scored 15 points and Jahad Marable (Philadelphia, PA/Science Leadership Academy - Beeber) connected for 12 points to aid the attack. Ermil Fleurinvil (Reading, PA/Downey Christian School) scored 7 points while Lamaj Mapp (Darby, PA/Penn Wood High School) chipped in with 6 points in the win.

Northampton improves to 21-3 overall and 13-2 in Region 19.

Brookdale Community College slips to 17-7 and 13-3 in the Region.

The Spartans continue their late season road trip on Saturday afternoon when they travel to Atlantic City High School in Atlantic City, New Jersey to take on Atlantic Cape Community College in a 2pm Region 19 match up.