Farmington, Maine – Castleton hit a three with less than a minute to tie the game, but for the second straight day, the Spartans were unable to pull out the tight game as they lost 102-94 in overtime to the University of Maine at Farmington on Saturday afternoon.

After forcing the extra session, Castleton was unable to keep the momentum and the Beavers hit their free throws down the stretch to finish with the win and improve to 15-3 overall and 10-2 in the North Atlantic Conference. The Spartans, meanwhile, drop to 9-10 overall and 7-5 in conference play.

Mark Comstock led the team with 22 points and five rebounds before fouling out. Rob Coloutti added 17 points off the bench, including five threes, while Chris Barletta finished with 14 points and eight assists. Dammy Mustapha chipped in with nine points and 11 rebounds.

The Beavers took advantage of 33 Castleton fouls and attempted 47 free throws. Andrew Dickey went 15-for-16 from the line and finished with 33 points and five assists. Ben Johnson was a force inside with 27 points and ten rebounds.

It was a back-and-forth first half with UMF grabbing a lead after a 5-2 start by Castleton. The Beavers maintained their advantage over ten minutes, until a jumper by Chad Copeland and a three by Logan White gave the Spartans the 38-35 lead with 4:32 left. The teams traded baskets over the final four minutes and Castleton held a 49-46 lead at the half.

In the second half, both team traded buckets early, but the Beavers gained a five-point advantage on a pair of free throws with 16:24 to go. The Spartans cut it to two, going 3-for-4 from the line on the next two posessions, With the score at 60-58, the Beavers began a 12-6 mini-run to extend their lead to eight with 12:05 remaining.

From there, the Spartans clawed back into the lead. White drained a three, Barletta added a pair of free throws, Comstock hit back-to-back layups, and Mustapha converted two from the charity stripe to contribute to a 11-2 Spartan run. The Spartans had their first lead since halftime, edging the Beavers 75-74 with 8:37 to play. 

Down the final stretch, the teams were neck-and-neck, trading baskets and battling for the lead. With 1:57 remaining, Andrew Dickey hit a three-pointer for the Beavers to put them up 85-81. On Castleton's next offensive posession, the team missed twice but crashed the glass, pulling two offensive rebounds and eventually earning a foul that sent Logan White to the line with 1:12 in the game.

The junior hit the first shot to pull the Spartans within three. White missed the second, but Mustapha was there to grab the board. After a timeout, the senior forward hit a huge three-pointer that knotted the game with 40 seconds left. 

Both teams had a shot to win the game, but turnovers kept either team from getting a shot off in the final moments. The tilt was forced into a five-minute overtime period. 

In the extra frame, three consecutive turnovers doomed the Spartans. The fell behind 92-89 on a Dickey layup, and were forced to foul in order to lengthen the game. The Beavers went 8-for-10 from the foul line in the overtime period, pushing their lead to 102-94, and sealing the Spartans' fate. 

Castleton will return to action on Friday, February 1 when they take on Maine Maritime as part of a men's and women's doubleheader. Tip-off of the men's game is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. and the women will begin at 7:30 p.m.