WATERVILLE, Maine – The Spartans closed an 18-point halftime deficit to just eight points 2:30 into the second half but couldn't draw even as Thomas eventually pulled away for the 83-65 victory in the North Atlantic Conference Quarterfinals on Tuesday evening. 

Castleton was the victim of an 18-0 run in the first half and didn't get closer than six points the rest of the contest. The Spartans did shoot 40.0 percent from downtown, but shot just 35.8 percent overall. Thomas made 55.8 percent of its field goal attempts and went 13 of 27 from beyond the arc while owning a 45-26 rebounding edge. 

Three players scored in double figures, led by a career-high 17 points from Casey McGraw in his final contest at Castleton. The senior went 5-for-6 from downtown while posting three rebounds, three assists and two steals. Edmund Fitzgerald chipped in 12 points and four rebounds while Tondi Mushandu added in 11 points and five rebounds.

Senior Levin Barnes connected on four triples and finished with a game-high 26 points to pace Thomas. Adam Carlsen added 14 points and four rebounds while Mike Akanji chipped in 11 rebounds, five points, two steals and two blocks. 

Castleton actually jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead in the opening 1:15, and led 10-9 on a three-point play by Mushandu with 14:51 left in the half. The Terriers took back the lead but the Spartans trimmed it to one multiple times, including 17-16 at 10:29. Barnes countered with four straight points to open an 18-0 run over the next six minutes, until a Joshua Horton triple ended the drought at 35-19 with 4:39 left. Thomas kept working and two late free throws from Barnes pushed the lead to 47-29 at the break. 

Rob Coloutti opened the second half with a three-pointer as the Spartans scored the first ten points of the period to make it an eight-point game in just 2:29. Thomas ended the run, but the Spartans eventually trimmed the deficit to only six, 54-48, at 10:01 on a shot from downtown by McGraw. 

Leading by just six points with nine minutes left, the Terriers went on a 10-2 run to pull ahead 67-53 with 6:04 remaining. Coloutti connected on a triple to cut it to nine, but another Thomas run put the game away and the Spartans wouldn't get any closer the rest of the contest. 

Castleton ends its season at 9-16 while Thomas improves to 13-12. The Terriers advance to the NAC Semifinals and will play top seed Husson on Friday at 6 pm.