PLYMOUTH, N.H. – The Castleton University men's basketball team was upended by Plymouth State in a Little East Conference matchup Wednesday night at Foley Gymnasium, as the Panthers defeated the Spartans by a final score of 69-49.

Castleton falls to 3-21 on the season and 2-13 in LEC play, while Plymouth improves to 14-10 overall and 8-7 in league play. The Spartans shot 34.9 percent as a team, knocking down 15-of-43 from the field. PSU shot 43.4 percent, making 23-of-53—including 7-of-16 from beyond the arc. Castleton was 10-of-25 from three. The Panthers won the rebounding battle, 37-28, and turned it over 17 times to Castleton's 26.

Amadou Diakite accounted for the majority of Castleton's offense, racking up 23 points on 7-of-13 shooting—including a 6-of-10 mark from three. Casey Belade added seven points and Demauriaye Smith had six rebounds and five assists. Oluwadare Sowunmi also had six board for Castleton.

Devin Cooper had 18 points and 10 rebounds to lead Plymouth, while Jaylen LeRoy was close behind with 17 points. Dante Rivera added seven points, eight rebounds and seven assists in addition to five steals.

The two sides traded blows early, as the score sat level at 6-6 through the game's first two minutes. The Panthers took a 9-6 lead on a three by Rivera with 15:30 to play, breaking a two-plus minute scoreless drought by both teams. The lead grew to 11-6 before Smith made a layup and Igor Almeida a free throw to cut it to 11-9. A three by Terrin Roy gave Castleton a lead, 12-11, but a jumper by Manny Sanchez on the other end gave the Panthers a 13-12 edge with 12:10 left in the half. Plymouth State never trailed again, pushing its lead to 17-12 before Castleton got on the board with a free throw once more. The Panther advantage reached as many as 15 in the opening 20 minutes, but sat at 13 going into halftime—38-24.

Both sides were scoreless for the first two minutes of the second half, with PSU getting on the board first when Devin Cooper made 1-of-2 at the line. Castleton got on the board with 16:27 left in the game when Denis LeCours tipped in a rebound to break the drought, but a 5-0 run by Plymouth extended the lead to 22 points, 48-26. Castleton whittled the lead down to 14 with an 8-0 run that featured a pair of threes by Diakite, before later getting the gap down to 12—49-47—on yet another triple by Diakite with 9:16 left. Castleton got no closer than that, however, as PSU pushed the lead back to 20 points with just more than four minutes to play when Rivera made it a 60-40 game with a layup. With the Panthers leading by 22 once again with 3:10 to play, Diakite buried his sixth three of the day to make it 62-43. The two sides were even on the way out, with the final score settling at 69-49 after John Walsh hit a late three for the Spartans.

Castleton concludes its season on Saturday at Glenbrook Gym at 3 p.m. against Eastern Connecticut. Three seniors will be honored prior to tip-off.