CASTLETON, Vt. – The Spartans pushed their lead past 20 in the second half behind 20 points from Chad Copeland, including the 1000th of his career, but Maine Maritime made it close late as Castleton held on for the 90-81 victory in Glenbrook Gym on Saturday afternoon.

Copeland led the Spartans with 20 points, the final two of which gave him 1000 for his career, becoming the 24th player in program history to achieve that milestone. The junior added six rebounds and two blocks to lead five players in double figures. Casey McGraw came off the bench to provide 11 points, ten rebounds and four assists while Pavin Parrish had 12 points, six assists and five rebounds. Carnelius Green chipped in with 14 points, six rebounds, three assists, three steals and three blocks.

The Spartans shot an impressive 49.2 percent from the floor in the game and outrebounded the Mariners 45-30 to improve to 10-8 and 8-4 in the North Atlantic Conference. MMA shot 38.2 percent from the floor but connected on 13 triples to keep it close as the team fell to 2-17 and 1-11 in conference action.

Five players also scored in double figures for MMA, led by Jason Hatch with 20 points, eight rebounds and two steals. Zachary Radcliffe added 18 points and five triples off the bench while Tyler Thayer recorded 15 points, four rebounds and four assists. Nick Holt was also in double figures with 12 points and three assists.

Castleton jumped out to a 6-0 advantage and took a 15-10 lead on a triple from Doug Krouse at 14:27. The Mariners pulled with three, 18-15, on a pair of free throws by Thayer with 12:40 left, but an 8-0 run pushed the Spartan lead to 11 less than two minutes later. MMA cut the deficit to 33-24 with 9:17 left but Castleton responded with a 14-0 run capped off by a fastbreak alley-oop from Parrish to Green to take a 47-24 lead with 5:24 remaining. The Mariners countered with a mini run and went into the break down just 51-38.

MMA closed the deficit to eight early in the second but the Spartans fired back with the next 19 points, capped off by a personal 8-0 run from Rob Coloutti to grab a 70-43 lead with 12:44 left. Over the next four minutes the Mariners closed the game to 18 points, but a Copeland layup at 7:29 gave him his 1000th point and put Castleton in front 80-58. MMA continued to play hard and went on a 19-0 run of its own to make it a four-point game, 83-79, on a three from Radcliffe with 1:10 left. However, the Spartans locked down and went 7-for-8 from the line over the final 69 seconds to secure the nine-point victory.

Coloutti was the fifth Spartan in double figures with 18 points, six rebounds and one steal. Krouse added five points, three rebounds and two assists.

Castleton returns to action on Tuesday when the team plays at Johnson St. at 5:30 pm.