CASTLETON, Vt. – The Castleton University men's basketball team earned its first-ever Little East Conference win Saturday evening, holding off a second-half charge by Western Connecticut State University to come away victorious, 75-73, at Glenbrook Gym.

The Spartans (2-14, 1-6 LEC) led by 16 at the half, but WestConn (10-6, 4-3 LEC) stormed back in the second half to take a three-point lead late. After Casey Belade buried a long three to knot the score at 68-68, Demauriaye Smith knocked down a high-difficulty jumper in the paint with less than one minute to play to give the Spartans a 70-68 lead that Castleton never relinquished. Castleton made 5-of-6 free throws down the stretch to pad the lead, but a three by WestConn's Jordon Brown with seven seconds remaining drew the Colonials within two, 75-73.

Following a timeout by WestConn, Castleton turned the ball over on the ensuing in-bound play, giving the Colonials one last chance to tie or win the game. Fenton Bradley Jr. drove the paint, but his attempt caromed off the backboard and was tipped out of harm's way as the horn sounded on Castleton's first conference win.

The victory snapped a 22-game losing skid against LEC opponents since Castleton's move to the league, as well as a 12-game losing streak that dated back to late November. Castleton shot 54.8 percent as a team, making 23-of-42 from the floor, while WestConn shot 44.6 percent (29-of-65). Both sides knocked down 11 threes, but the biggest difference in the contest was the Spartans' free throw shooting. Castleton hit 18-of-21 at the line (85.7 percent), while WestConn was 4-of-7 (57.1 percent) from the charity stripe. The Colonials controlled the glass, 38-19, which led to a 22-2 edge for the visitors in second-chance scoring.

Remy Brown dazzled from distance in the contest, knocking down 6-of-7 threes and finishing the day 7-of-8 from the floor for a career-high 26 points. Amadou Diakite added 15 points on 7-of-11 from the floor, while Smith chipped in with 12 points—inclduing the go-ahead bucket late—and four rebounds. Belade had nine points off the bench, making a pair of threes and 3-of-4 at the free throw line.

Shea Tracy led WestConn in scoring with 17 points. Tracy knocked down 5-of-10 from three and added five rebounds. Ahmod Privott had 11 points and five rebounds, while Bradley Jr. and Legend Johnson reached double digits with 10 points apiece. Bradley Jr. and Jaheim Young tied for a game-high with six rebounds each.

WestConn got on the board first, scoring on its first possession of the game on a jumper by Privott. Castleton then rattled off seven consecutive points to take a 7-2 lead, however the Colonials went on a 9-2 run of their own to go ahead 11-9 near the midway point of the opening half. Diakite knocked down a jumper to knot the score at 11-11, kicking off a 9-0 run for Castleton that gave the Spartans an 18-11 edge with 7:01 remaining in the frame. After a 4-0 run by WestConn, Castleton scored 14 consecutive points to push its edge to 32-15 with 3:05 to play before halftime, capped by a pair of free throws by Smith.

Privott stopped Castleton's run with a three, but Diakite answered on the other end of the floor with a three of his own to keep the lead at 17. After a three by Brown made it 35-21 in favor of Castleton, Brown put the finishing touches on a stellar first half for Castleton with a late layup the sent the game into the break with Castleton ahead, 37-21.

The Colonials came out of the locker room firing on all cylinders, opening the second half on an 8-0 run that spanned three minutes. After Nate Plaisted buried a three for the Spartans to stop the bleeding, WestConn hit back-to-back threes of its own to cut the lead to just five points, 40-35. After going back-and-forth for two possessions, the Colonials went on a 7-0 run to draw the game level for the first time in nearly 20 minutes of action, 42-42. Diakite gave Castleton the lead once more with a jumper, before Brown extended the edge to four points with a pair of free throws.

Nearing the midway point of the second half, Tracy nailed a three for WestConn to make it a one-point game—46-45. Brown answered on the other end with a three of his own, before Tracy hit another three to cut into the lead once more. Terrin Roy joined the three spree to push the lead back to four, but Joe'l Cooper hit another three for the Colonials to pull the visitors within one once more, 52-51. After the Spartans turned the ball over on the ensuing possession, WestConn took its first lead since the opening minutes of the game when Brown dropped in a layup for the Colonials. Castleton's Brown answered with threes on three consecutive possessions, putting the hosts up 61-53 with 6:47 left on the clock.

The Colonials answered with a 9-2 run to make it a one-point game again, 63-62, but a pair of free throws by Belade gave Castleton a three-point cushion with 4:03 to play. Bradley Jr. cleaned up an offensive board with a tip-in to make it 65-64 Castleton, before making layups on back-to-back possessions to give WestConn its largest lead of the day—68-65. With the shot clock winding down, Belade stepped into a three and connected from distance, knotting the score at 68-68 with just 1:46 to play.

Castleton picked up a stop on the defensive end of the floor, taking over possession with 1:18 to play. The Spartans got the ball to Smith, who drove and hit a tough jumper in the paint that hovered briefly on the rim before falling through, giving Castleton a 70-68 lead. After getting another crucial stop defensively, Castleton's Brown was intentionally fouled, giving the Spartans a pair of free throws as well as possession. Brown knocked down both to make it 72-68, before Belade was sent to the line for a 1-and-1 after a flurry of fouls by the Colonials. Belade knocked down 1-of-2 at the line, giving Castleton a five-point cushion with 21 seconds remaining.

WestConn kept battling, as Young was able to tip in an offensive rebound on a missed three from Privott, making it a one-possession game, 73-70. Smith was then fouled and hit both free throws from Castleton, pushing the lead back to five points with 12 seconds remaining. WestConn's Brown buried a three with seven seconds left, pulling the Colonials to within two—75-73—before WestConn called timeout to draw up its final defensive play. After forcing a turnover on the in-bound play, Privott got the ball to a driving Bradley Jr. for the Colonials, but his layup attempt went off the backboard and was knocked out of bounds as time expired and Castleton held on to win the nail-biter.

The Spartans are back in action Wednesday night at Eastern Connecticut State University at 7:30 p.m.