GORHAM, Maine – The Castleton University men's basketball team battled until the final whistle, but ultimately came up short in the Little East Conference Tournament Play-In Game against Southern Maine on Monday, 68-62.
 
The Spartans were powered by a career-high 30-point outburst from Eric Shaw, who hit 10 threes in the contest. Shaw becomes the first Spartan since Michael Morgan in 2019 to score 30 points in a game, and his 10 threes are the most in a single game since Scott Keefe made 12 against Nichols in 2000.
 
Shaw hit 10-of-15 from the floor—all of which came from three-point range—and grabbed four rebounds in the contest. Darrell Hardge and Oluwadare Sowunmi added 10 points apiece, with Sowunmi grabbing seven rebounds as well. Hardge had four rebounds and five assists. Justin Schwarzbeck added a team-high eight rebounds to go with six points.
 
Chance Dixon led USM with 18 points, followed by Cody Hawes with 17 and Jason Lombard with 12. Lombard had a double-double, grabbing 10 rebounds in the contest. Hawes had eight boards.
 
Castleton shot 40.7 percent from the floor (22-of-54) and 38.7 percent (12-of-31) from three while making 6-of-8 at the line. USM shot 45.0 percent (27-of-60) from the field and 38.5 percent (10-of-26) from distance. The Huskies hit just 4-of-10 at the line. Castleton won the rebound battle, 34-32, but the Spartans committed 17 turnovers to USM's seven. The Huskies had an 18-3 edge in points off turnovers.
 
Shaw opened the scoring nearly two minutes into the contest with his first three of the game, but USM rattled off seven straight points before Shaw connected from distance again to make it 7-6. The Huskies went on a 14-2 run from there to open a 13-point lead, 21-8, but three unanswered threes by Shaw drew Castleton within four, 21-17. After Schwarzbeck hit a pair of free throws to make it a 23-19 game, Shaw again hit from long range to make it a one-point game, 23-22. Castleton took over the lead with 3:20 to play when Hardge hit from three-point range to make it 25-24 Spartans. The two teams traded the lead back-and-forth, eventually settling into the halftime break deadlocked at 30-30.
 
Dixon opened the second half with a three for the Huskies, but a layup by Sowunmi and threes from Hardge and Shaw put Castleton ahead 38-33. After a USM layup, Shaw connected on yet another three and Schwarzbeck added a layup to put the Spartans up eight, 43-35. The Huskies tried to make a charge with back-to-back layups, but Shaw kept Castleton up seven with a three—his ninth of the game. Five straight points by USM brought the hosts back within two, but Schwarzbeck kept the Huskies at arms' length for the time being with a layup with 12 minutes to play. The Huskies again rattled off five straight points to retake the lead, 49-48, with 11:27 remaining.
 
Castleton took the lead back briefly on a layup by Johnny Torrence, but a three and a layup by USM gave the Huskies a four-point lead with less than nine minutes to play. The Spartans clawed back within a point with 4:19 remaining when Shaw hit his final three of the game and Sowunmi finished a layup to make it 61-60 in favor of the Huskies. USM responded with a layup and Torrence hit two free throws to make it 63-62, but the Huskies scored the final five points of the game to advance to the LEC Quarterfinals Tuesday night.
 
Castleton concludes the season 5-21 overall. The Spartans graduate just two players from the 2021-22 squad: Shaw and Sowunmi. Castleton is set to return two juniors, three sophomores and six freshman for the 2022-23 campaign.