Framingham, MA– The Castleton State College men's basketeball team led by as many as 17 in the first half, but could not hang on and fell 61-53 to Framingham State in non-conference action Tuesday evening. With the loss the Spartans fall to 5-5 while the Rams improve to 4-6.

After falling behind 2-0 to start the game, the Spartans used a 29-10 run to open up a 17 point lead with 9:36 left in the first half.  Freshman guard Mark Comstock (Rutland, VT) was 2-for-2 from behind the arc and sophomore Derick Faragon (Schenectady, NY), who had 10 first half points, added six points on the run for Castleton. 

Castleton was 4-of-9 from behind the arc (44.4%) and shot 55.6% (15-17) from the floor in the first half, but the Spartans cooled down in the second half shooting only 33.3% from the floor and were 0-7 from three allowing the Rams to climb back into the game. 

Framingham State forced 15 second half turnovers by the Spartans that they converted into 16 points compared to just two points off Ram turnovers for the Spartans. 

The Rams chipped away at the lead tying the game at 53-53 with 4:50 remaining and took their first lead since the 19:20 mark of the first half on three by senior guard Darius Yarrell (Brockton, Mass.) with 4:19 remaining. Senior forward Roderick Jackson (Cambridge, Mass.) added a baseline jumper and junior Royce Veal (Dorchester, Mass.) sank a fast break layup to extend the Rams lead to seven with under a minute to play.

Senior forward Josue Almodovar (Holyoke, Mass.) scored a game-high 14 points for the Rams and moved into third all-time on the Framingham State career scoring list.  Almodovar's 1,391 career points move him past Victor Koytikh who had held the third spot with 1,387 career points.

Yarrell, who went 3-for-3 from behind the arc, finished the game with 11 points, while Jackson added ten points and five boards.

Faragon also finished with a game-high 14 points for the Spartans on five of seven shooting from the floor to go along with five boards and three assists.

The Rams return to action on Saturday as they begin conference play at Fitchburg State at 3 p.m., while the Spartans host St. Joseph's College (VT) on Thursday at 7:30 p.m.