POULTNEY, Vt. – Castleton fell victim to some hot shooting in the first half and was unable to make up the difference in the second as Green Mountain earned a 74-57 victory on Saturday afternoon in the Eagle Dome. 

The Eagles scored 17 consecutive points midway through the first half to overcome an early deficit and finished the game shooting 39.7 percent from the floor, including 12-for-32 from beyond the arc to improve to 9-2 and 5-1 in the NAC. The Spartans finished the game shooting 46.2 percent from the floor but were rebounded 35-30 in the contest. 

Senior Rob Coloutti led the team with 16 points and five rebounds while Tondi Mushandu was also in double figures with 14 points, five rebounds and four assists. Casey McGraw added three points, eight rebounds and a career-high five assists. 

Green Mountain's Thomas Brown led all scorers with 19 points, six rebounds and five assists while Mychal Parker added 11 points, nine rebounds and two assists. Sampson Dale chipped in seven points, four rebounds and four assists. 

The Spartans jumped out to a quick 9-5 lead on back-to-back triples by Kyle Adams at 17:38. Green Mountain came back to tie the contest 11-11 on a Brown triple, and he added two more threes as part of a 17-0 run to take a 25-11 lead with 9:24 left in the half. Castleton closed with nine three minutes later, and then pulled with six points, 34-28, on consecutive triples by Coloutti and Adams with 3:03 left. Wynn countered with a three and the Eagles finished the half on a 7-4 run for a 41-32 lead at the break. 

In the second, a 6-2 Castleton run left the Spartans down just 43-38, however, Green Mountain responded with six straight to push its lead back to 11 points. The two teams traded baskets over the next five minutes, as a Mushandu dunk made it 54-47 with 9:38 left. The Eagles didn't let their lead shrink anymore, scoring the next six points to extend the lead to 13 and the Spartans didn't get any closer than 11, ultimately falling by a 74-57 margin. 

Castleton is back in action on Thursday when the team travels on the road to play Colby-Sawyer at 7:30 pm.