NEW LONDON, N.H. – Castleton fell behind by ten points in the opening five minutes and was never able to recover as team dropped a 78-60 decision to first place Colby-Sawyer in North Atlantic Conference action on Wednesday evening. 

The Spartans shot just 38.8 percent from the floor in the game and were outrebounded 51-30 as they fell to 12-9 and 10-5 in conference play. The Chargers, meanwhile, connected on 41.8 percent of their shots and pulled down 28 offensive rebounds to improve to 15-5 and 13-2 in the NAC. 

No Castleton player scored in double figures, though junior Casey McGraw led the team with nine points and two rebounds. Chad Copeland added six points, four blocks, three rebounds and two assists while Carnelius Green chipped in with nine points, five rebounds, three steals and three blocked shots. 

The Chargers scored the first 12 points of the game on three three-pointers and a three-point play down low by Peter Donato. The lead ballooned to 18 with 8:17 left on the clock after a Donato two-handed slam. 

Castleton responded with five straight points, but Colby-Sawyer pushed its advantage to 47-21 with a Koang Thok trey with less than 30 seconds to play. Luke Czaplewski knocked in a pair of free throws for the final points of the frame. Colby-Sawyer shot 45.2 percent, while holding the visitors to 29.2 percent to take a 47-23 lead at the break. 

The Spartans pulled back within 20 points in the first four minutes of the second half, 52-32, before six straight by the Chargers made it a 26-point game at 14:04. Castleton responded with a 10-0 spurt to cut the deficit to 58-42 on a layup by Green with 11:53 left in the game. However, Mike Dias and Thok connected on back-to-back layups to make it a 20-point margin once again. The Spartans couldn't pull closee than 17 the rest of the way as Colby-Sawyer secured the 18-point victory. 

The Chargers' Zach Bean led all scorers with 23 points on 10-of-18 shooting. Thok finished with 15 points, while Wol Majong contributed 13 points and a team best nine rebounds. Donato recorded 12 points and a game-high four steals, while Dias added 10 points off the bench. 

Castleton returns to action on Friday when the team hosts Thomas at 5:30 pm in Glenbrook Gym.