GORHAM, Maine – The Castleton University men's basketball team fell behind early and never recovered Saturday afternoon, dropping a Little East Conference contest at Southern Maine, 74-57.

Castleton drops to 3-20 on the year and 2-12 overall, while Southern Maine improves to 11-12 and 6-9 in the conference. USM shot 41.3 percent from the field (26-of-63) and 42.1 percent from three (16-of-38), while Castleton knocked down 32.3 percent from the floor (21-of-65) and 22.6 percent (7-of-31) from three. The Huskies won the rebounding battle, 45-39, and both teams had 10 or less turnovers on the day.

Amadou Diakite posted a season-high 21 points in the loss, knocking down 8-of-17 from the field in addition to his five rebounds. Terrin Roy joined him in double digits, scoring 15 points in just 16 minutes. Roy made 5-of-9 with a trio of threes and hauled in four rebounds. Casey Belade added seven points off the bench, while Oluwadare Sowunmi led all -players with 12 rebounds.

Southern Maine was paced by 22 points from Jaire Roberts, who shot 8-of-18 from the floor and 6-of-14 from three. He also added seven rebounds and five assists. Derek Haney added 15 points on 6-of-11 shooting, while DJ Anderson chipped in nine points off the bench. Kylani Lafleur added 10 rebounds for the Huskies.

USM ran out to an 11-0 lead in the first three minutes, but Castleton responded with five straight points as Belade hit a turn-around jumper from the elbow before Denis LeCours drilled a three. The Huskies pushed the lead back to 11 points—18-7—when Lafleur finished a layup before extending it further to 14 points—30-16—with 4:$3 to play when Cameron Wood made two free throws. Roberts added a pair of threes before the half to send USM into the locker rooms leading the Spartans, 36-16.

Castleton's offense performed better in the second half, as the Spartans outscored the Huskies 41-38 after the break. 19 of Diakite's 21 points came in the final 20 minutes, as did all 15 of Roy's points. The duo combined for all but seven of Castleton's second-half output, shooting a combined 54.5 percent in the stanza. Despite the uptick in scoring, Castleton's first-half deficit was too much to overcome as USM poured in eight second-half threes to keep Castleton at bay and seal the contest, 74-57.

Castleton takes on Plymouth State in the penultimate game of the regular season on Wednesday night at 7:30 p.m. in PSU's Foley Gymnasium.