GORHAM, Maine – The Castleton University men's basketball team dropped its final game of 2022 on Saturday afternoon, falling to the University of Southern Maine 72-59 in Little East Conference road action.
 
The Spartans wrap up the first half of the season 3-7 overall and 0-2 in league play while USM goes into the break 7-3 and 1-2 in the LEC. The Spartans shot 40.0 percent from the floor (24-of-60), but made just four threes on the day. USM shot 50.0 percent from the field (26-of-50) and connected on 12 threes. The Spartans won the rebound battle 36-29, but 12 offensive rebounds led to only seven second-chance points in the loss.
 
Joe Russell dropped a team-leading 21 points on 9-of-17 shooting while grabbing a team-best eight rebounds. Will Radcliff added 12 points and five rebounds. Carter Mackey chipped in seven points and Tray Wright and Brandon Cahill had six apiece.
 
Four different players hit double figures for USM, led by Jason Lombard's 14 points. Simon Chadbourne and Chance Dixon had 12 each and Tommy Whelan added 10. Dixon led the team with seven rebounds.
 
Southern Maine opened the game on a 14-2 run before Castleton scored four unanswered on a pair of layups by Russell. The Spartans later went on a 9-0 run to pull within five, 20-15. Southern Maine began to put distance between the two teams going into halftime, outscoring Castleton by six points over the final eight minutes to lead 38-27 at halftime.
 
Castleton pulled within eight points midway through the second half, but USM pulled ahead with a 16-2 run from there to a 66-44 lead. The Spartans responded with a 9-2 run of its own, but it was not enough to threaten the Huskies as USM held on for the 72-59 lead.
 
The Spartans return to action on January 4 when they host UMass Boston at 7 p.m.