Chicopee, MA - The Castleton State College men's basketball team fell in its 2008-09 opener to Springfield College 71-61 in the opening round of the Blazer Tip-Off Tournament hosted by Elms College.

Springfield raced out to a 19-2 lead over the first 4:38 of the contest, before Castleton used a 21-7 run of its own to pull within 26-23 with five minutes remaining in the half. The Pride closed out the half, clinging to a 35-31 lead.

Springfield stretched its lead to 10 at 48-38 just over four minutes into the second half when freshman Mat Roulier canned a pair of three-pointers during a 13-5 run to bring the Spartans within two, 53-51. The Pride used an 18-10 run to close out the game, and advance to the championship round of the tournament.

Junior forward Pat Crean scored 13 points and added four assists, senior guard Danny White dropped in 11 points and 6-7 senior center John Strawson registered 10 points to all reach double figures for the Pride.

Strawson also added a game-high 18 rebounds for Springfield, which owned a commanding 53-34 advantage off the glass, including 22-10 on the offensive end.

Sophomore guard Seth Harrington netted a team-high 18 points, while freshman forward Steve Velazquez and sophomore forward Marcus Hass added 12 points apiece for the Spartans. Hass also finished with 12 rebounds as the only player to register a double-double for Castleton in the loss.

Castleton will take on Regis College in the consolation round of the tournament at 2:00 pm on Sunday. Regis fell to host Elms College 83-66 in the first game.