BOSTON, Mass. – The Castleton University men's basketball team dropped a low-scoring battle at UMass Boston Monday night, falling 48-38 in Little East Conference action on the road.
The Spartans (5-12, 0-8 LEC) out shot UMass Boston (8-8, 4-4 LEC) 40.0 percent to 34.7 percent, making 16-of-40 while the Beacons made 17-of-49. The difference came from distance, however, as Castleton hit just 1-of-11 from three and UMass Boston made 9-of-29. Both teams knocked down five free throws. Castleton won the rebounding battle 33-28, but committed 21 turnovers that led to 18 Beacon points. The Spartans turned 15 Beacon turnovers into only eight points on offense.
Oluwadare Sowunmi led the Spartans in scoring for the second straight game, dropping 12 points with eight rebounds in the contest.
Johnny Torrence also reached double figures with 10 points for Castleton.
Joe Alamprese scored four points and tied Sowunmi with a team-high eight rebounds. Alamprese also had three assists.
Charles Mitchell led UMass Boston with 11 points and five assists, while Malik Brooms tied Mitchell's point total with 11 of his own. Malik Lorquet had nine points, seven rebounds and three blocks and four steals for the Beacons, making an impact in all facets of the contest.
Castleton got on the board first with a layup by Sowunmi, but UMass Boston scored the next six points to take an early lead. After Alamprese knocked down a jumper, Lorquet put the Beacons back up four with a layup. Buckets by Sowunmi and
Justin Schwarzbeck knotted the score at 8-8, but three unanswered threes by UMass Boston gave the hosts a nine-point lead, 17-8. Torrence broke the skid with a pair of free throws, but another three put the Beacons up 10 points with less than eight minutes to play in the opening half. Castleton got back within seven points later in the frame when Sowunmi made a layup and Torrence hit two more free throws, but two more threes by the Beacons put the hosts up 12 late in the stanza. Sowunmi capped the first half with a jumper to keep Castleton within striking distance at the break, 27-17.
The Spartans scored the first six points of the second half to close the gap to just four points, as Sowunmi,
Mu Moore and
John Walsh found the bottom of the bucket. After a four-plus minute stretch without a basket to open the half, UMass Boston scored four straight points to push its lead back to eight, 31-23.
Alex Blackmore and Schwarzbeck made baskets for the Spartans to keep it close at 31-27. The Beacons created some space with an 8-2 run to push the gap back to double figures, 39-29, before Schwarzbeck made a layup to stop the bleeding.
Trailing by 11 with less than three minutes to play, Torrence made a three and followed with a layup on the next possession to bring the deficit back to just six points, 44-38, but two free throws by Mitchell and a transition dunk by Lorquet capped the night for the Beacons, 48-38.
Castleton returns to the court Saturday afternoon at Southern Maine for a 3 p.m. tip-off.
