Castleton, VT - Andrew MacDonald (Hanson, MA) banked home the game-winning three-pointer from the right wing to propel New England College to an 86-85 overtime win over Castleton State College in non-conference men's basketball action at Glenbrook Gymnasium Tuesday evening.

With five seconds remaining, and Castleton clinging to an 85-83 lead, New England College called a timeout to draw up the final play. MacDonald, who entered the game for the first time during the timeout, received a kick-out from Rafael Salado (Boston, MA) and unleashed the last second shot for the win. Castleton's attempt at a desperation heave down court failed as the final buzzer sounded.

Castleton led the entire game, stretching the lead to as many as 12, but could never put the Pilgrims away for good. The Spartans opened the contest on a 7-0 run, and opened up a 31-19 lead on a Seth Harrington (Bennington, VT) three-pointer with 4:23 remaining in the first half. New England College closed out the half with a 13-6 spurt, capped by an Eric Lenahan (Point Pleasant Beach, NJ) trifecta to make it 38-32 at intermission.

The Spartans opened the second half by scoring eight of the first 10 points, fueled by six points from Greg Hughes (West Rutland, VT). New England College once again cut into the lead, and never trailed by more than nine the rest of regulation. A pair of Jared Paul (Tampa, FL) free-throws gave Castleton a 76-71 lead with 1:06 remaining in regulation, but the Pilgrims scored seven of the last nine points to send the game to overtime. Shane Hennessey (Plymouth, England) accounted for four of the points, including the game-tying lay-up with two seconds remaining.

Spencer Marzouk (Greensboro, NC) knocked home a three-pointer with 3:49 remaining in overtime to give the Pilgrims their first lead of the game at 81-80. Hughes then answered with a three-pointer and a steal on the other end which led to two more free throws from Paul to give Castleton an 85-81 lead. Lenehan canned a pair of free-throws to cut the lead to two, and provided a rebound on the other end to help set up MacDonald's heroics.

Joe Faragher (North Ridgeville, OH) scored 22 points, including a 10-for-13 performance from the foul line and hauled in 10 rebounds to lead the 1-1 Pilgrims. Marzouk followed with 19 points while Hennesey and Salado chipped in 14 and 10 respectively.

Derick Faragon (Schenectady, NY) led Castleton with 15 points, but was limited due to foul trouble for much of the contest and eventually fouled out. Paul and Hughes each had 13, and Kevin Eisenberg (Moultonborough, NH) chipped in 11 off the bench. Mark Comstock (Rutland, VT) grabbed 10 boards and added seven points as Castleton falls to 0-1 on the season.

New England College will play host to University of Maine-Presque Isle Friday evening at 7:00 p.m.

Castleton will travel to Hartwick College to participate in the Tom Greene Memorial Tournament Friday and Saturday. The Spartans tip-off versus Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts on Friday at 6:00 p.m. in the opening game of the classic.