Courtesy Castleton Sports Information
CASTLETON – The Spartans made a run late in the second half to pull within 11 points but Southern Vermont responded with a 6-0 spurt to end the threat and come away with a 100-82 victory in Glenbrook Gym on Sunday afternoon.
Castleton shot just 41.1 percent from the floor and 32.5 from beyond the arc as the team dropped to 1-3 on the season. The Mountaineers, meanwhile, went 8-for-9 from downtown in the first half were 12 of 19 overall from three while also connecting on 59.7 of their field goals overall to improve to 2-2. They also outrebounded Castleton 40-37 and recorded assists on 25 of their 37 field goals.
Senior Chad Copeland scored 23 second-half points, finishing with 28 overall, to go along with six rebounds, two steals and two blocks. Freshman Robbie Colarusso was the only other Spartan in double figures, with 12 points, four rebounds and four turnovers. Joshua Horton added nine points while Casey McGraw had two points, two blocks and nine rebounds in just 14 minutes of action.
Five different players scored in double figures for SVC, led by DeShawn Hamlet with an efficient 18 points on 9-for-12 shooting. He added seven rebounds, three assists and two blocks. William Bromirski and Daemond Carter each connected on four triples for 15 and 14 points respectively, while Antoine White finished with ten points, seven assists and six rebounds.
The Mountaineers scored the first nine points of the game, but Castleton eventually managed to pull back within three on a swish from beyond the arc from Copeland at 13:32. The Spartans kept it close over the next four minutes, highlighted by a three from Rob Coloutti to trail 23-19 with 9:35 remaining.
However, six straight SVC points pushed it to a ten-point lead and later a pair of free throws from Nate Goldsmith extended the lead to 18, 42-24, with 3:39 left in the half. White provided the Mountaineers with an 18-point lead at the half, hitting a three with one second left for a 50-23 advantage.
Castleton started slow in the second half as the Mountaineers pushed their lead to 20 and eventually extended it to 25, 63-38, on a triple from Bromirski at 15:13. Colarusso responded with a three of his own and Copeland pulled the Spartans within 20, before another run left them in a 24-point hole with 11:23 left.
Trailing by 23 points midway through the second, Castleton went on a 15-4 run which was anchored by Copeland to trim the SVC lead to just 78-65 with 6:18 remaining. Josh Borders connected on a layup to make it a 15-point game, but a 6-2 spurt left the Spartans down just 82-71 at the 4:57 mark. Bromirski responded with six straight for the Mountaineers and Castleton didn’t any closer than 14 points the rest of the way, settling for the 100-82 final.
The Spartans return to action on Wednesday when they open conference play on the road against New England College at 7:30 pm.