CASTLETON, Vt. – Castleton trailed by just one point at the half, but Thomas came out firing in the final 20 minutes to pull away for an 83-72 victory in Glenbrook Gym on Saturday afternoon. 

The Terriers shot 65.0 percent from the floor in the second half, while also going 22-for-28 from the free throw line to improve to 3-5 and 1-2 in the North Atlantic Conference. They finished at 46.3 percent for the contest, while the Spartans made 35.9 percent of their shots, but went just 9 of 35 from downtown as they dropped to 3-4 and 2-1 in conference play. 

Senior Chad Copeland led Castleton with a double-double of 20 points and 13 rebounds before fouling out in 29 minutes of action. Classmate Casey McGraw contributed 16 points, on five threes, with four rebounds while Pavin Parrish was also in double figures with 12 points, six assists, four rebounds and two steals. Julian Santos Molina chipped in six points, six assists and three rebounds. 

Five different players scored in double figures for Thomas, led by Adam Carlsen with 16 points. Tyheem Simon provided 16 points and eight rebounds off the bench, while Mike Akanji was solid with six points, six rebounds, five assists and two steals. 

Castleton actually jumped out to a 9-2 lead, punctuated by a Copeland dunk off a feed from Parrish at 15:35. Thomas responded and used a 10-0 run to take the lead, 16-11. The Spartans grabbed the lead on a triple from Coloutti, 21-20, with 7:21 left, but four quick points from the Terriers gave them a 24-21 advantage. The teams continued to trade hoops over the final six minutes of the half, with a late Copeland layup pulling Castleton within one, 31-30 at the break. 

The teams went back-and-forth over the first three minutes of the second, and a three-point play from Copeland gave the Spartans a 40-37 lead at 17:16. Carlsen tied the game with a three 17 seconds later, igniting a 12-0 run while keeping Castleton scoreless for the next five minutes. The Spartans were able to pull within eight twice in the final eight minutes but Thomas countered every basket and eventually extended their lead to 13 in the final minute before finishing with the 11-point win. 

Castleton returns to action on Tuesday when the team travels to face Middlebury for a 7 pm contest.