CASTLETON, Vt. – Plymouth State University canned 8-of-11 attempts from three point range, and shot a blistering 62.5% from the field to overcome a 13-point halftime deficit, defeating Castleton State College 76-66 in non-conference men's basketball action at Glenbrook Gymnasium Tuesday evening.

Plymouth improves to 3-1, while Castleton evens its mark at 2-2.

A Thomas Nyanti (Mount Pocono, Pa.) lay-up with 35 seconds remaining in the first half pushed the Spartan halftime lead to 36-23 as Castleton controlled play over the opening 20 minutes of action.

 After opening the second half even for the opening five minutes, Castleton held a 46-34 advantage on a Mike Knight (Spring Valley, N.Y.) free throw. The Panthers then caught fire, canning six out of their next seven attempts from long distance, fueling an 18-2 run. Matt Feehan (Nashua, N.H.) and Ian Dempsey (Andover, Mass.) each had a pair of triples during the surge.

The Panthers never trailed again, pushing the lead to as many as 11 with four minutes remaining. A Greg Hughes (West Rutland, Vt.) three-pointer with three minutes to go cut the Spartan deficit to six, but it was as close as they would come.

Ryan Lambert (Derry, N.H.) scored a team-high 21 points, including a 12-for-13 performance from the charity stripe. Feehan scored 16, including a perfect 4-for-4 from beyond the arch while Dempsey added 13 points on 3-of-5 shooting from distance. Tom Dowd (Portsmouth, N.H.) added nine points and a game-high 15 rebounds as the Panthers outrebounded their hosts 33-25 on the game.

Jared Paul (Tampa, Fla.) scored a game-high 22 points on 8-for-19 shooting from the field and 4-of-8 from three-point range. Knight added 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting, while Mark Comstock (Rutland, Vt.) chipped in nine.

Plymouth is at Salem State on December 2 for an 8:00 p.m. tip-off, while Castleton hosts Middlebury on November 30 at 7:30 p.m.