CASTLETON, Vt. – The Castleton University men's basketball team had a slow start Tuesday night and was unable to overcome it as it fell 78-63 in a non-conference matchup with Fitchburg State.

Castleton falls to 1-7 (0-2 LEC) while Fitchburg State jumps up to 6-5 (0-0 MASCAC) on the season. Fitchburg State took an early 4-3 lead with 18:42 to go in the first half and never relinquished it. Both teams had hot shooting days from the field at over 40 percent in the game. The Spartans shot 41.8% (23-of-55) while the Falcons shot 44.3% (27-of-61). Castleton caught fire from behind the arc in the second half going 7-for-14, and shot 45.5% (10-for-24) on the night. The Falcons shot 42.9% (6-for-14) from behind the arc. The Falcons dominated the Spartans on the glass outrebounding them 46-26 including 14 offensive rebounds. Both teams had 14 turnovers with the Falcons slightly edging the Spartans in points off turnovers 16-14. 

Castleton got a team-high 16 points from Terrin Roy in 35 minutes. Roy shot 6-for-16 in the game including 4-for-7 inside the arc. Roy also contributed three assists and two rebounds.  Junior Amadou Diakite had a strong performance for the Spartans contributing 11 points on 4-for-8 shooting including a perfect 3-for-3 from behind the arc. Freshman Nate Plaisted played calm under pressure tonight with seven points, five rebounds, and five assists. Plaisted and Remy Brown led the team in rebounding with five apiece. 

Charles Doss was on fire for the Falcons collecting a double-double with a game-high 22 on 69% (9-for-13) shooting from the field and game-high 10 rebounds. Toskany Abreu had a hot shooting night coming off the bench to score 13 on 66% (4-for-6) shooting and 80% (4-for-5) from behind the arc. Devon Johnson was second the team in both points and rebounds contributing 15 points and nine rebounds. Johnson also led the way for the Falcons with five assists. 

The game started out slow with the Falcons jumping to an early 6-3 lead after a pair of free throws from Devon Johnson with 18:12 remaining in the first half. The score would be deadlocked there until a Toskany Abreu three gave the Falcons a 9-3 lead with 13:11 remaining. Then, the two teams traded buckets with the Spartans getting as close as 23-19 with 4:49 left. The Falcons took a 31-26 lead into the half. 

The Falcons came out of the gate hot in the second half going on a 7-0 run to take a 38-26 lead with 19:05 remaining in the second half. Castleton was able to battle back to 52-46 at the under 12-minute media timeout following back-to-back made layups by Roy. A John Walsh three-pointer moments later drew Spartans to within a score 52-49 with 11:04 remaining in the game. The teams battled back and forth with the Spartans getting to within as a close as two points on a Brown three that made it 60-58 with 7:01 remaining, and on a Terrin Roy layup that made it 62-60 with 6:00 to go in the game. 

From there, the Falcons put away the Spartans down the stretch ending the game on a 16-3 run. A couple made layups and clutch free-throw shooting from Trevian Hinson, Devon Johnson and Charles Doss helped seal the victory for the Falcons. 

The Spartans return to play on the road on Saturday, December 14 at 2 p.m. as they travel to SUNY Cobleskill.