CASTLETON, Vt. – The Castleton University men's basketball team dropped a tight Little East Conference contest to Keene State on Wednsday night in Glenbrook Gym, hanging with the LEC's top-ranked team until the final minutes before falling by a final score of 62-57.
 
The Spartans (5-10, 0-6 LEC) shot 33.3 percent overall in the contest, making 20-of-60 from the floor. The team also hit 5-of-16 from three and 12-of-13 at the free-throw line. Keene posted a 36.7 percent mark from the field, making 22-of-60 with 10 threes. The Owls were also 8-for-8 at the charity stripe. Keene held a narrow advantage in rebounding, 42-37, but Castleton committed only eight turnovers to Keene's 11; Castleton score 14 points off Owl turnovers.
 
Castleton was led by 12 points from Johnny Torrence and 10 each from Alex Blackmore and John Walsh. Darrell Hardge added nine and Mu Moore and Justin Schwarzbeck had six each. Blackmore came up one rebound shy of a double-double with nine boards, while Oluwadare Sowunmi had seven rebounds of his own. Moore and Hardge each had four steals in the contest.
 
Keene's Jeff Hunter led all players with 21 points and 11 rebounds, while Octavio Brito added 12 points and Mason Jean Baptiste had 10. James Anozie grabbed eight rebounds and Jeric Cichon had seven boards to go with six assists.
 
The game was a low-scoring affair from the early minutes, with Keene leading just 7-0 after more than five minutes had elapsed in the contest. Hardge got Castleton on the board with a free throw, but Keene continued its early control of the contest with a three by Hunter. A later dunk by Hunter put the Owls ahead 14-3, but Castleton scored five straight on a jumper by Hardge and a three by Moore, whittling the gap to six, 14-8. Castleton continued to hang tight, scoring the final five points of the half, including a three-point play by Walsh with just three seconds left, to go into halftime trailing by five, 33-28.
 
The two sides traded blows out of the locker room, with the deficit remaining five points after three layups by Castleton and a pair of threes by Keene equaled one another out. Back-to-back layups by the Owls pushed the lead to nine points, 43-34, but Castleton then went on an 11-3 run to make it just a one-point game with 7:09 to play, 46-45. Torrence started the run with a three and ended the run with a pair of free-throws. Castleton hit a pair of late threes to stay within striking distance, as Moore banked one in to make it a four-point game with 27 seconds left on the clock. After two Keene free throws made it a six-point Owl lead, Torrence drilled a three of his own to make it 60-57 in favor of Keene State with 11 seconds left. The Owls once again hit a pair of free throws at the other end to make it a two-possession game, and Castleton's last-chance effort came up short with the Owls on top 62-57.
 
Castleton returns to action Saturday at home against Rhode Island College. Tip-off is slated for 5 p.m.