Castleton, VT – The Castleton State College men's basketball team dropped a 74-62 North Atlantic Conference (NAC) match up with visiting Maine Maritime Academy Saturday afternoon at Glenbrook Gymnasium.

Maine Maritime took a 30-26 lead into halftime, but Castleton opened the second half on an 18-9 run and held a 44-39 lead with 14:08 remaining in the contest. The two teams battled back-and-forth, over the next nine minutes of action, but a Bryant Ciomei lay-up with 5:10 remaining gave the Mariners the lead for good at 58-57. The Mariners went on a 17-5 run to close the game out and earn the much needed win.

With the win Maine Maritime improves to 9-16 over all and 5-9 in conference play, and also moves into the sixth and final play-off position by virtue of a head-to-head tie breaker with Lyndon State who also had a 5-9 conference record.

Jake Manner scored 14 points and hauled in 11 rebounds to lead Maine Maritime. Paul Campbell added a team-high 18 points, while Derek DiFrederico added 14 points and Ciomei 12.

Michael Carrier scored a game-high 20 points as Castleton's season comes to a close at 2-23 overall and 1-13 in conference play. Marcus Hass added 15 points and Kevin Cayea 11.