Castleton, VT - The Castleton State College men's basketball team could not overcome the 14-point first half deficit, and eventually fell to visiting Johnson State College 77-61 in North Atlantic Conference (NAC) action at Glenbrook Gymnasium.

Johnson State took a 5-4 lead with 15:34 remaining in the first half, and never trailed again en route to the 16-point win. The Badgers used a 9-0 run midway through the opening half to stretch their lead to 24-10 with 8:23 remaining. Castleton answered with a 10-2 run of its own to cut the deficit to six, but the Badgers closed out the half by outscoring their hosts 12-4 to take a 38-24 advantage into the intermission.

Johnson State saw its lead balloon to 73-48 with 3:15 remaining, before Castleton finished the game on a 13-4 run.

Leandro Martinez canned 7-of-10 from beyond the three-point stripe en route to his game-high 23 points. Martinez, knocked in five three-pointers in the second half alone, including three on consecutive trips down the floor to help provide the knock out blow. Bobby Shedd added 15 points and nine rebounds for the 6-4 (1-0 NAC) Badgers. Johnson State received solid contributions from its bench as well, with Ian Passino adding 12 points and six rebounds, and John Foley 11 points, five rebounds in reserve rolls.

Seth Harrington scored a team-high 16 points, while Marcus Hass and Kevin Cayea chipped in 12 points each for the 1-10 (0-1 NAC) Spartans.

Castleton is back in action on Thursday evening when the Spartans play host to Colby-Sawyer at 7:00 pm. Johnson State has a week to prepare for a trip to Green Mountain College and a 7:30 pm NAC tilt.