COBLESKILL, N.Y. – The Castleton University men's basketball team closed out the first half of its schedule Saturday afternoon, falling to SUNY Cobleskill in non-conference action by a final score of 84-62 at Iorio Gymnasium.

Castleton sits at 1-8 heading into the break, while Cobleskill is 7-1 to date. The Spartans shot just 37.7 percent (20-of-53) as a team, while Cobleskill knocked down 32-of-73 to shoot 43.8 percent on the day. Castleton was efficient from three, making 10-of-24 (41.7 percent), but Colbeskill knocked down 11-of-37 on the day (29.7 percent) to counter. The rebounding battle was nearly even, with the Fighting Tigers holding a 40-39 edge, but the Spartans coughed the ball up 19 times to Cobleskill's nine turnovers, leading to a 25-13 edge for the Fighting Tigers in points off turnovers.

Castleton had four players score in double digits, led by Remy Brown's 13 points. Brown was 5-of-7 shooting, including a 3-of-4 mark from three. Demauriaye Smith and Nate Plaisted had 11 points each, while Plaisted added five assists and two steals. Terrin Roy notched a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds, while Oluwadare Sowunmi chipped in with eight points and seven rebounds off the bench.

James Conteh dropped a game-high 28 points for the Fighting Tigers, shooting 12-for-22 on the day. Antwan Claxton had a 12-point, 12-rebound outing for a double double, while Devin Boyle and Jahmr Jordan had 12 and 11 points, respectively, off the bench.

The game was scoreless for more than two minutes at the start, before Brown buried a three to give Castleton the first lead of the game. Plaisted doubled the lead to six on the following possession with a three of his own, before Cobleskill got on the board with a jumper from Conteh. Castleton pushed its early lead to eight points—13-5—with 13:49 to play in the half on a layup by Plaisted. The Fighting Tigers began to slowly chip away at the lead, taking their first lead with 8:17 left in the opening half, 18-17. The two sides traded baskets until the under-six-minute mark of the half, when Cobleskill went on a 14-5 run to end the half with an 11-point lead, 40-29.

Castleton got the deficit back to single digits in the second half, when a pair of free throws by Plaisted cut the score to 55-46 in favor of the hosts. A three by Smith a minute later made it a 57-49 game, but that was as close as Castleton would get as Cobleskill continued to pull away using runs of seven points and later six points to extend the advantage. Cobleskill ended the game on a 9-1 run for a final score of 84-62.

Castleton is back in action Thursday, January 2, 2020, when it hosts Sage at 3 p.m. in Glenbrook Gym.