Castleton, VT – Castleton scored the first seven points of the game, and 11 of the first 12 en route to a wire-to-wire, 67-54 victory over Thomas College in North Atlantic Conference (NAC) men's basketball action Friday evening at Glenbrook Gymnasium.

A pair of Jared Paul (Tampa, FL) three-pointers sandwiched a Derick Faragon (Schenectady, NY) free-throw over the opening minute of play as Castleton raced out to the early lead. Castleton continued to control play over the next 12 minutes, stretching its lead to 31-12 with 6:53 remaining in the opening half. After a Thomas timeout, the Terriers regrouped and reeled off the next nine-straight points to cut the deficit to 10, and played even over the final four minutes to enter the intermission at 36-25.

Castleton was red-hot from three-point range over the first half, canning 6-of-9, while limiting the Terriers to an 0-for-7 performance.

Castleton scored the first five points of the second half and settled maintained a double-digit lead over the next 10 minutes of play. Trailing 51-41 with 8:48 remaining, the Terriers went on a 6-1 run over the next four minutes to slice the lead to five. A three-pointer by Paul answered the run, and started a 10-2 spurt for the Spartans to put the game away.

Faragon had 10 points in the first half, en route to a team-high 14 to go along with six rebounds. Mark Comstock (Rutland, VT) also tossed in 14 on 5-for-7 shooting and grabbed six rebounds, while Greg Hughes (West Rutland, VT) added 13. Paul and Mike Knight (Spring Valley, NY) each had nine for the 15-7, 9-2 Spartans.

Thomas (14-7, 6-5) received a game-high 16 points on 8-for-12 shooting and nine rebounds from Francisco Alicea (Foxboro, MA), while Isaiah Brathwiate (Farmington, ME) chipped in 12 points.

Both teams are back in action tomorrow afternoon at 4:00 p.m. with the Spartans playing host to the University of Maine-Farmington, and Thomas traveling to Green Mountain College.

Castleton's game with Farmington will be a battle for first-place in the NAC standings, as both teams enter play tomorrow with a 9-2 conference record.