FARMINGTON, Maine – Rob Coloutti became just the 25th player in school history to surpass 1,000 career points this afternoon, as Castleton Men's Basketball claimed a 62-56 victory over the U. of Maine at Farmington Beavers in North Atlantic Conference action at Dearborn Gymnasium. 

The senior forward finished the afternoon with a game-high 22 points and six triples to bring his career-scoring total to 1,015 points. Edmund Fitzgerald fell just shy of a double-double with seven points and 11 boards, while Joshua Horton chipped in 12 points off the bench to help the squad improve to 8-13 (7-7 NAC) overall and sweep the weekend roadtrip.

UMF struggled from the field, shooting just 33.9 percent as a team, as it dropped its sixth straight game and fell to 2-17 on the season. Ryan Camire delivered a team-best 17 points on six-of-ten shooting and Ryan Rice added ten points of his own. Nick Hilton, meanwhile, scored nine points to go along with 14 boards and four steals in a game-high 35 minutes of play.

Coloutti opened the scoring with one of his six three-pointers just 1:10 into the first half to put Castleton on the scoreboard. Casey McGraw followed with a layup before the two teams traded baskets to make it 8-6. The Spartans took control of the contest midway through the first when the squad went on a 10-3 run, capped off by a Coloutti free throw with just 6:06 left in the first to jump in front 18-9.

The Beavers responded with three straight points to cut their lead back to six, but Horton and Coloutti knocked down back-to-back threes and Tyler Arsenault added a basket of his own to head into break with a 26-15 lead.

The Spartans opened the second half with a Coloutti three followed by a layup from Rob Pinnock to push their lead to 16. Horton's three-point at the 12:33 mark in the contest extended the visitors' lead to a game-high 18 points.

Down 41-23, the Beavers showed some fight and slowly closed the gap back to single digits after Nick Hilton knocked down a free throw with 5:02 left to play. Just over a minute later, Shawn Murphy sank a three-point basket to cut the hosts' deficit to five at 51-46 before Pavin Parrish hit a three of his ten points to push the lead back to eight.

Castleton led by 12 with just 30 seconds left to play after Coloutti hit a pair of free throws to put the game out of reach. Maine-Farmington tacked on a pair of threes in the final 17 seconds of play to bring the game to its final score, 62-56.

The Spartans return to action next Friday when they host the Mariners of Maine Maritime at 7:30 pm.