Castleton, VT - The Castleton State College men's basketball team used a 14-0 run midway through the second half to break away from College of St. Joseph to earn its first victory of the season, 70-64 at the Genbrook Gymnasium.

A Doug Childs lay in with 8:33 remaining in the second half, capped a 9-0 St. Joseph run that made the Fighting Saints' lead swell to 53-44. After a Castleton timeout, the Spartans reeled off 14 unanswered points over the next five minutes to take the 58-53 lead. Cameron Bodine canned a pair of three-pointers and Marcus Hass tossed in five points during the run, including a two fisted jam that brought the crowd to its feet. The Spartans never trailed again, and made 7-of-8 free throws down the stretch to seal the win.

St. Joseph held a slim 34-32 edge at intermission, on the strength of 12 first half points from Brad Drysdale. The Fighting Saints made 14-of-26 shots from the field, but were unable to pull away as Seth Harrington's 10 first half points kept the Spartans within striking distance. Castleton turned up its defensive pressure in the second half, limiting St. Joseph to just 30.6% (11-for-36) from the field and 1-of-10 from beyond the three-point arc.

Drysdale finished with a game high 18 points and six rebounds, while Childs added 16 points and six rebounds. Tyler Herrington added 12 points and six rebounds as St. Joseph falls to 2-8 overall.

Castleton placed four players in double figures, led by Hass, Harrington and Keith Schneider each with 14. Schneider was instrumental in the Spartan run, as the freshman finished with eight rebounds and six assists in 36 minutes of play. Hass added seven rebounds and Harrington five for the 1-9 Spartans. Bodine finished with 11 points rounding out the Spartans in double figures.

Castleton opens up its North Atlantic Conference schedule on Tuesday, January 13 when the Spartans play host to Johnson State College at 7:30 pm.

CSJ will play host to University of Maine-Machias on January 10 at 3:00 pm in Sunrise Conference action.