Courtesy Castleton Sports Information

LYNDONVILLE – The Spartans fell behind early and couldn’t overcome an impressive shooting performance from Lyndon as they dropped a 77-57 decision on the road Saturday afternoon.

Castleton shot 43.8 percent from the floor and 6-for-18 from downtown, dropping to 4-6 and 3-2 in the North Atlantic Conference. The Hornets, meanwhile, made 52.1 percent of its shots, including an impressive 17-for-32 from beyond the arc to improve to 4-3 and 2-1 in conference action.

Tondi Mushandu and Rob Coloutti were the only Spartans in double figures, registering 14 and 10 points respectively. Mushandu added five rebounds, two steals and one block while Coloutti added three boards, two assists and two steals. Edmund Fitzgerald chipped in five points, five rebounds and two steals.

Gabriel Torres led the Lyndon offense, going 8-for-13 from downtown to finish with 24 points, while Raymond Morre added 15 points on 5 of 10 shooting from beyond the arc. Eric Vargas chipped in six points, eight assists and six rebounds.

Castleton scored the first seven points of the contest, however, the Hornets managed to come back and tie it at 12 apiece with 12:53 left in the half. Xavier Colbert gave them a 14-12 lead and Lyndon held the Spartans scoreless for seven minutes while extending its lead to 28-12. The teams then traded baskets over the final seven minutes, giving the Hornets a 39-23 advantage at the break.

The second half started much like the end of the first, with both teams exchanging buckets until back-to-back threes from Torres put the Hornets up 62-41 with 8:00 to play. Castleton managed to close the final margin to 20, with late threes from Ryan Merget, Luke Czaplewski and Lake Roberson, outscoring Lyndon 9-3 over the final two minutes.

The Spartans return to action on January 3, when they host Williams at 1 pm. Lyndon gets back into action on Tuesday, January 5th at New England College.