Plymouth, NH-Castleton's Chris Young and Josh Howe each tallied double-double performances, but it was not enough to hold off a balanced Plymouth State attack as the Spartans fell 81-74 in non-conference action.

Young finished with 17 points on 7-11 shooting and collected 10 rebounds, while Howe added 16 points and 11 rebounds. Joey Farley scored a game-high 19 points while Rich Reilly added 11 for the 1-2 Spartans

Bryan Tracy finished with 15 points and 11 rebounds for the Panthers, while Mike Chergey added 11 points and 11 boards. Junior Ben Huntington led the team with 17 points as the Panthers improved to 2-1 on the season.

Plymouth State went on a 15-4 run early in the first half to take a 10-point lead (23-13). The Panthers maintained the advantage the next 10 minutes, but the Spartans battled back and regained the lead (36-35) with five minutes to go in the half. Castleton saw the lead swell as high as six points (44-38) but settled for a 44-43 lead at the intermission.

There were four lead changes in the first nine minutes of the second half, with neither team leading by more than five points. Plymouth State took the lead for good on 10 unanswered points by Huntington, including a pair of three-pointers, and had its largest lead of the second half (76-66) with just over three minutes to play. The Spartans got to within two points (76-74) with a minute to go after consecutive threes from Howe, but didn't score again and Plymouth State held on for the win.

Plymouth State will be back in action next Tuesday, Nov. 27, at the annual Jacob's Bridge Through Autism Classic at New Hampshire Technical Institute in Concord.  PSU will face New England College in the first game at 5:30 pm. Castleton also returns to the court next Tuesday, visiting Middlebury College for a 7:30 pm non-conference affair.