CASTLETON, Vt. – The Castleton University men's basketball team fell in non-conference action to MCLA Tuesday night, losing 95-71 at Glenbrook Gym.

The Spartans fall to 0-2 with the loss, while MCLA improves to 3-2 on the year. The Spartans shot 41.0 percent (25-of-61) from the field, while MCLA knocked down 53.6 percent (37-of-69) of its shots on the day. The Trailblazers were on fire in the first half, shooting 67.6 percent (25-of-37) in the opening 20 minutes. MCLA held the edge in three-point shooting, going 10-of-25 (40.0 percent), while Castleton shot 7-of-25 (28.0 percent) from distance. MCLA also dominated the glass, 47-27, as well as bench scoring, 40-28.

The Spartan offense was led by Demauriaye Smith's 14 points, as the senior was 5-of-12 from the field. He also added seven assists, a steal and a block. Denis LeCours added 11 points on the night, and Terrin Roy reached double digits with 10 points. Remy Brown pulled in a team-high nine rebounds in addition to his seven points, while Nate Plaisted added six points off the bench.

MCLA's Hayden Bird dropped a game-high 25 points off the bench, hitting 10-of-17 from the field in addition to his seven rebounds. Chris Becker added 20 points on an efficient 10-of-12 night, while Noah Yearsley made 8-of-9 from the field for 19 points. Mike DeMartinis rounded out MCLA's double-digit scorers with 11 points. Ki-Shawn Monroe had a non-traditional double-double, grabbing 11 rebounds and dishing out 10 assists.

The Trailblazers led from the beginning and never looked back, opening the game on a 9-0 run over the first two minutes of action. Castleton closed the gap to just two points after a strong three-minute stretch, but MCLA went on an 11-0 run to go ahead 27-14 near the midway point of the half. Castleton then scored back-to-back buckets as Amadou Diakite buried a three and Brown a layup, but a 10-2 run by the Trailblazers extended the lead once more, 37-22. The barrage continued as MCLA made shot after shot, taking a 65-40 lead into halftime.

The lead quickly grew again out of the break as Becker made three consecutive layups to make it 71-40, but a pair of layups from Smith stopped the bleeding for Castleton. The Spartans used a 6-0 run at the midway point of the half to narrow the gap to 76-54, but never got any closer. Castleton ended the game on a 7-3 run over the final five minutes of play.

Castleton returns to action Friday at 1 p.m. at the Barre Auditorium against NVU-Johnson in the Granite City Shootout.