CASTLETON, Vt. – The Spartans trailed by just one at the half but couldn't find their stroke in the second half as Colby-Sawyer pulled away and eventually earned the 72-64 victory in North Atlantic Conference action at Glenbrook Gym on Tuesday evening.

Castleton shot 44.4 percent in the opening 20 minutes to trail just 35-34, but connected on only 38.5 percent of its attempts in the second half while the Chargers shot 54.5 percent from the floor. The Spartans finished the game at 41.5 percent shooting as they dropped to 4-6 and 2-3 in the conference. Colby-Sawyer finished the game at 51.0 percent from the field and outrebounded Castleton 33-32 to improve to 6-3 and 4-0 in conference play. 

Chad Copeland led three Spartans in double figures with 16 points and ten rebounds while Carnelius Green added 13 points, nine rebounds and three steals. Freshman Tondi Mushandu chipped in with 11 points, three rebounds and two assists while Pavin Parrish had five assists and four points. 

Jake Maynard had the hot hand for the Chargers, shooting 9-for-12 and hitting 4 of 5 three-point attempts for 22 points and five rebounds. Wol Majong helped control the pace of play with 16 points, ten rebounds, six assists and three steals. Peter Donato was also in double figures with ten points and four offensive rebounds. 

The Spartans jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first minute and pushed their lead to 11-5 on a triple from Rob Coloutti at 15:15. Mushandu made it 14-7 a minute late, but a 9-2 run by the Chargers tied the game 16-16 with 11:43 left in the half. Castleton scored four for the 20-16 lead, but nine straight put Colby-Sawyer back in front 25-20 with nine minutes remaining. The Spartans managed to tie it up 32-32 with 2:40 left on a 4-0 spurt, and then took a 34-33 lead on a Copeland jumper. A Maynard layup ended the scoring with the visitors up 35-34 at the break. 

The teams traded baskets over the first five minutes of the half, before a 12-5 run by the Chargers put them in front 54-43 with 10:09 remaining. Colby-Sawyer stretched its advantage to 59-45 on a Maynard layup minutes later and the Charger lead didn't drop into single digits until Mushandu hit a pair of free throws to make it 64-55 with 3:55 left. Colby-Sawyer scored four straight, but a three from Luke Czaplewski, a layup by Cosrick McDonald and a Rob Pinnock layup cut the deficit to six with just 1:22 left. However, Majong went 4-for-4 from the charity stripe in the final 74 seconds to secure the eight-point win. 

Castleton returns to action on Tuesday when the team hosts Middlebury at 7 pm.