HENNIKER, N.H. – Senior Casey McGraw connected on a three from the corner with just 4.4 seconds left to lift the Spartans to a dramatic 100-99 victory over New England College in the conference opener for both teams on Wednesday evening on the road. 

Trailing 98-97 after a missed three-pointer, the Spartans were forced to foul Andrew Haschytz with 23 seconds left. He connected on the first free throw but missed the second and Chad Copeland corralled the rebound to set up the final possession, down 99-97. Castleton tried to work the ball inside but with time winding down Pavin Parrish found McGraw in the corner and he delivered the clutch basket. A last-second NEC heave was off the mark to secure the win. 

The late three overcame a dominant 46-point effort from the Pilgrims' Dezron Wilson. The senior scored the last nine points of the game for NEC while finishing 12-for-20 from the floor and 18-for-22 from the free throw line for a new career-high. He also added 12 rebounds and a pair of assists. Dondre James added 16 points, nine rebounds, four assists and two blocks in defeat.

Six Spartans scored in double figures, led by Parrish and Rob Coloutti with 17 points apiece. Chad Copeland was a force with 15 points, 11 rebounds, four assists and two blocks while McGraw finished with 12 points, seven rebounds and three assists. Joshua Horton added 12 points on four triples off the bench. 

Castleton actually jumped out to a 20-4 lead in the opening seven minutes behind some hot shooting and led 26-16 midway through the period. The Spartans stretched their lead as high as 38-22 on a three from Horton with 6:42 left, but NEC finished the half on a 25-8 run to trail by one, 47-46 at the break. 

The second half was back-and-forth though Castleton extended its lead to eight points multiple times before a Dondre dunk with 9:13 left jumpstarted a 9-2 Pilgrim run to cut the deficit to just one, 80-79, with 6:48 left. 

NEC took their first lead of the second half on a three with 4:38 left and two minutes later a Wilson layup provided a 93-91 advantage. Parrish then made a three from the comer to put the Spartans back in front before Wilson countered with one of his own from the top of the arc to take back a 96-94 lead with 1:55 remaining. 

Copeland countered with the driving layup and drew a foul at 1:09 to tie it up. He swished the free throw for the 97-96 advantage but Wilson came back down and was fouled dribbing to the hole. He connected on both free throws for the one-point lead and Coloutti missed a three with 26 seconds left, setting up the foul and final sequence. 

Castleton improves to 2-3 with the win and 1-0 in the North Atlantic Conference while NEC drops to 2-4 and 0-1 in the conference. 

The Spartans return to action on Friday when they host U of Maine Farmington at 7:30 pm in Glenbrook Gym.