DANBURY, Conn. – The Castleton University men's basketball team was within striking distance throughout the contest, but was unable to push ahead of Western Connecticut State University Saturday as the Spartans fell on the road, 77-67.

Castleton (3-18, 2-10 LEC) was within one, 54-53, with less than 11 minutes remaining and within four, 67-63, with less than three minutes to play, but the Colonials (14-7, 8-4 LEC) pulled away late to seal the victory. Castleton out-shot the Colonials 44.7 percent (21-of-47) to 41.7 percent (25-of-60), while both teams knocked down double-digit threes in the contest. Castleton was 14-of-25 (56.0 percent) from distance, while WestConn was 13-of-34 (38.2 percent) from deep. The Colonials dominated the glass, 44-22, and both teams had 12 turnovers in the game. Castleton converted the WestConn turnovers to 17 points, while WestConn managed 11 points off Spartan miscues.

Casey Belade had a season-high 20 points on 7-of-12 shooting, while Amadou Diakite had 18 points with the same shooting line. Belade was 6-of-10 from three, while Diakite made 4-of-8 from deep. Remy Brown added 14 points on 4-of-6 shooting, including 3-of-3 from three. Demauriaye Smith added five points and five rebounds, while Diakite led the team with four assists.

Ahmod Privott led all players with 21 points for WestConn, making 7-of-11 from the field and 4-of-8 from three. Fenton Bradley, Jr. had 17 points and 12 rebounds for a double-double, while Jaheim Young and Legend Johnson reached double digits with 14 and 12 points, respectively.

The two sides traded blows early, with Castleton taking a 15-10 lead after a 5-0 run that was capped by a tree from Diakite. The Colonials answered with five straight points of their own, knotting the score at 15-15. The score went back-and-forth over the ensuing four possessions before WestConn took a 23-20 lead on a three by Privott. After WestConn went ahead 26-23, Diakite tied it for Castleton with a three with 4:09 remaining. The Colonials led by two late after a free throw by Ryan Alkins, but Brown hit a three in the waning seconds to give Castleton a 35-34 lead at the break.

Diakite hit a layup out of the locker room to put the Spartans ahead three, but Shea Tracy knotted the game 37-37 with a three for the Colonials. After Diakite put Castleton ahead once again, 39-37, Young gave the Colonials a one-point lead—40-39—with a three of his own. The Colonials never trailed from that point forward, though Castleton threatened on multiple occasions. Belade capped a 5-0 run with a three with 13:20 to play to make it a one-point game, 51-50, before Terrin Roy brought Castleton back within one minutes later, 54-53. The Colonials expanded the lead to six points—59-53 over the ensuing minutes, but a three by Brown halved the deficit to three points.

WestConn pushed the lead back to eight points, 64-56, with just over five minutes to play, but Castleton scored five straight points to narrow the gap and force a WestConn timeout. The timeout proved fruitful, as the Colonials' Bradley knocked down a three out of the stoppage to extend the gap to six once more. Smith dropped in a layup and Oluwadare Sowunmi hit a free throw to pull Castleton within four—67-63—with 2:36 remaining, but five straight made free throws by WestConn pushed the edge to nine points with 1:07 remaining. Smith hit a pair of free throws for Castleton to pull Castleton within seven, 72-65, but five more free throws by the Colonials around a layup by Brown sealed the victory for WestConn, 77-67.

Castleton returns to action Wednesday night at 7:30 p.m. at home against UMass Boston.