BARRE, Vt. – The Castleton University men's basketball team bested in-state foe Northern Vermont University-Johnson on Friday evening, winning 84-80 at the Granite City Shootout at the Barre Auditorium.
The Spartans (4-3) shot 42.3 percent (30-of-71) from the floor and 37.5 percent (18-of-48) from three, while Johnson shot 43.3 percent overall (29-of-67) and 33.3 percent (6-of-18) from three. Johnson was 16-of-21 at the free-throw line, while Castleton was 6-of-9. The Badgers won the rebound battle 47-37, while turnovers were nearly even with Johnson committing 14 and Castleton 12. The Spartans capitalized on the NVU miscues, scoring 19 points off turnovers.
Castleton had four players in double figures scoring, led by
Darrell Hardge's 17 points. Hardge was 3-of-3 from three and 6-of-8 from the floor while adding six rebounds and three assists.
Joe Alamprese had 15 points on the night, making 7-of-13 from the field.
Jackson Atty and
Remy Brown added 12 apiece, each of them knocking down a quartet of threes.
Oluwadare Sowunmi led the Spartans on the glass with 11 rebounds.
The Badgers were led by an impressive outing from Malik Moore, as the forward netted 30 points and hauled in 16 rebounds while shooting 14-of-20 from the field. Romelle Watt and Samuel Stephens were also in double figures, scoring 15 and 13 points, respectively. Stephens also added eight assists and six rebounds, while Watt grabbed 11 boards. David Jordan scored 11 off the bench.
The Badgers led early in the contest, running out to a 16-9 edge after a three by Stephens and layup by Watt. Castleton began to whittle away at the lead, as
Brodie Cluchie and Atty nailed back-to-back threes to make it 16-15. NVU pushed the lead to 25-18 at the midway point, when Castleton called a timeout. The Spartans continued to chase, as Johnson went up 31-21 on a layup by Moore. Minutes later, Castleton used a 10-1 run to tie the game at 36-36, before taking a 41-38 lead—its first of the game—with 3:09 to play in the opening half on a three by Brown. After the 9-0 Spartan run ended, Castleton was on top 45-38 with less than two minutes remaining in the half. Castleton went into the locker room up 12, 53-35, after
John Walsh knocked down three free throws with no time on the clock as he was fouled on a buzzer-beating attempt.
Castleton opened the second half with five straight points to go up 58-41, but Johnson began to work back into the game from there. Five unanswered cut it back to 58-46, and a later six-point run made it a 63-54 game. Another six-point run by the Badgers midway through the half narrowed the Spartan lead back to six points, 66-60. Castleton pushed the lead back to double digits after a 6-2 run that was capped with buckets by
Mu Moore and Hardge. The Badgers again reeled off six unanswered points, narrowing the Spartan lead to just four points—72-68—with 7:09 remaining. Atty buried a three to give the Spartans some breathing room, but back-to-back Johnson layups made it a three-point game, 75-72.
With the lead still at three points with less than three minutes to play, Hardge finished off a layup and Blackmore hit a three to put the Spartans on top 82-74. The Badgers continued to pester Castleton, as Jordan knocked down a three with 1:51 left for an 82-77 Spartan lead. Hardge knocked down a pair of free throws to push the Spartans ahead 84-77, but another three by Jordan made it just a four-point game with time on the clock. Neither team would score again, however, giving the contest its 84-80 final.
Castleton is back in action at the Granite City Shootout on Saturday at 4 p.m. against Norwich at the Barre Auditorium.
