WILLIMANTIC, Conn. – The Castleton University men's basketball team dropped a heart-breaker at Eastern Connecticut on Saturday, falling 61-60 after a last-second desperation shot went by the wayside in Little East Conference action.
Darrell Hardge buried a three with just 59 seconds left on the clock and Castleton got a crucial block from
Oluwadare Sowunmi on the other end to keep the deficit at just one point. Eastern Connecticut missed the front end of a one-and-one situation and the Castleton controlled the rebound prior to timeout being called. The Spartans inbounded with 1.4 seconds left, with Hardge letting go a running three from a hand-off from Sowunmi. The ball hit the backboard, but did not fall as Hardge was covered tightly by an Eastern defender.
The Spartans fall to 5-8 with the loss and 0-4 in LEC play with the loss, while Eastern improves to 9-4 overall and 4-1 in league action. Castleton shot 43.9 percent (25-of-57) from the floor and 50.0 percent (8-of-16) from three, while Eastern shot 39.6 percent (21-of-53) on the day and 30.8 percent (8-of-26) from three. Free throw numbers were lopsided in the affair, as Eastern made 11-of-14 while Castleton attempted just three free throws, making two. Both sides took care of the ball, Castleton committing just nine turnovers and the Warriors committing four.
Hardge led Castleton with 13 points in the contest, followed by
Mu Moore with 11 points. Sowunmi and
Alex Blackmore had 10 points apiece. Moore and Sowunmi had a team-high seven rebounds each, while Hardge added six assists and five rebounds to his 13 points.
Justin Schwarzbeck chipped in six points and four rebounds off the bench.
Eastern was led by 17 points apiece from Thomas Close and Tyreice Woods. Woods also had seven assists and six boards in the win for the Warriors. Jalen Williams had 16 points, while Rakesh Tibby rounded out the Warriors in double figures with 10 points and 11 rebounds for a double-double.
The Spartans led early on in the contest, holding a 7-5 advantage four minutes in. The Warriors then hit three consecutive threes to take a 14-7 lead, but a subsequent 14-0 run for the Spartans put Castleton on top 21-14 with 9:48 to play in the opening half. The lead grew to nine points with 5:42 to play after a layup by Hardge and a three from
Jackson Atty made it 30-21. Eastern stopped the short run with a three of its own, but Castleton ended the half with a 7-0 run to carry a 37-24 lead into the locker room.
Eastern came out firing in the second half, scoring the first 10 points of the stanza to cut the gap back to three points, 37-34. Sowunmi dropped in a layup to stop the bleeding, and Blackmore buried a three on the ensuing possession to give Castleton a five-point lead, 42-35. A quick 5-0 run by the Warriors closed the lead to just two points, but Blackmore again cushioned the lead with a jumper to put the Spartans up four. Eastern then rattled off five unanswered points to take its first lead since early in the first half, 45-44.
The two sides traded baskets over the next four minutes before Castleton scored seven straight points to regain control, 57-52, with 7:40 to play. The Spartans went cold on offense from there, going scoreless over the ensuing six-plus minutes as Eastern scored nine straight points to take a four-point lead, 61-57, with 1:22 to play. Hardge put the Spartans right back in it, snapping the skid and knocking down a three from the wing to bring Castleton within one, 61-60. On Easterns next possession, Woods drove the lane but was met with a block by Sowunmi to give Castleton possession once more. Eastern killed clock by fouling Castleton three times on the Spartans' next possession, using the fouls available to spare before reaching the bonus. Castleton never got to the line, as a jumper by Hardge with five seconds left missed and Eastern came down with the rebound. A quick Spartan foul stopped the clock, and Eastern missed the ensuing free throw to give Castleton one final chance. The long inbounds pass and final shot came up empty, finishing the contest with the Spartans just shy of their first conference win of the season.
Castleton returns to the court next Saturday at UMass Dartmouth at 3 p.m.
