CASTLETON, Vt. – The Castleton University men's basketball team picked up its first victory of the 2022-23 season on Friday night, winning a tight battle with the United States Coast Guard Academy by a final score of 64-54 in front of a raucous crowd at Glenbrook Gymnasium.
The win moved Castleton to 1-1 on the season and was the 200th win of head coach
Paul Culpo's collegiate career. Castleton outshot Coast Guard 30.2 percent (19-of-63) to 27.7 percent (18-of-65) while knocking down nine threes to USCGA's four. Both sides got to the line more than 20 times, Castleton hitting 17 free throws in the game and Coast Guard making 14. Castleton had a 50-48 edge on the glass, and committed only 12 turnovers to Coast Guard's 15.
Justin Schwarzbeck led all Spartans with 17 points on the day, hitting four threes and going 5-of-6 at the stripe. He also had nine rebounds.
Joe Russell also found his way into double figures scoring, racking up 13 points with nine rebounds and four steals.
Tray Wright had eight points, five rebounds and five assists, while
Will Radcliff had seven points and six boards.
Carter Mackey contributed seven points and eight rebounds and
John Walsh chipped in seven points as well.
No Coast Guard player reached double digits scoring, with Declan Rooney leading the team with nine points. Cameron Brown had eight points and nine rebounds while Abe Countryman had eight points as well. Ben Yagey added seven points and seven rebounds.
Coast Guard opened the night's scoring with a triple, but Castleton answered as Schwarzbeck knocked down a three of his own to knot the score at 3-3. After a Coast Guard layup, Schwarzbeck buried another three to give Castleton a 6-5 lead—an advantage it never relinquished despite Coast Guard threatening multiple times. The lead grew to 14-5 after Mackey's layup capped an 11-0 run for Castleton, and stretched again to a game-high 24-12 when Schwarzbeck hit a three in transition. A later three by Russell put it back to a 12-point gap, 27-15, but Coast Guard worked it back to just an eight-point game at halftime, 31-23.
The Bears again hit a three at the start of the half, making it a five-point contest at 31-26. Castleton tried to extend its lead, but Coast Guard kept answering the call and whittled the gap down to just two points, 40-38, with 12 minutes to play. A three by Walsh four minutes later put Castleton ahead by five, 45-40, but four straight points by the Bears made it just a one-point game, 45-44, with 7:15 on the clock. Schwarzbeck hit a pair of free throws to give Castleton some breathing room before Walsh knocked down another three to make it a six-point lead. Coast Guard never got closer than two points the rest of the way, with Castleton making nine free throws in the final two minutes to end the contest on top, 64-54.
Colby and Saint Joseph's College of Maine played in a neutral site contest following the Spartans' game, with Colby claiming a 99-95 win in overtime. The game featured Castleton alum Tyler Ackley '14 on the sidelines as the head coach of SJC. Castleton native Noah Tyson had 14 points and six rebounds in the game for Colby, one of four Mules to reach double figures scoring in the win.
Saturday's action will conclude the men's Spartan Classic, with SJC and Coast Guard playing at noon following by Castleton and Colby at 2 p.m.
