CASTLETON, Vt. – The Castleton University men's basketball team battled back late in the game on Saturday afternoon against Eastern Connecticut State, but it wasn't enough to overcome an early deficit as the Spartans fell 76-66 in Little East Conference action.
Castleton sits at 5-15 overall and 0-11 in the league following the loss, while Eastern Connecticut improved to 13-7 on the year and 8-4 in LEC play with the win. Both sides shot the ball well, with Castleton making 53.1 percent from the field (26-of-49) and 42.1 percent from three (8-of-19). The Warriors hit 49.1 percent from the floor (27-of-55) and 47.2 percent from three (17-of-36). Castleton won the rebounding battle 30-25, but Eastern Connecticut held an edge in the turnover battle, 16-9. The Warriors turned the Spartans' miscues into 18 points on the other end of the floor.
Johnny Torrence had a team-high 17 points for the Spartans, followed by
Justin Schwarzbeck's 11-point, seven-rebound outing.
Darrell Hardge added nine points and
Oluwadare Sowunmi had eight points with nine boards.
Eric Shaw also had eight points, hitting a both of his attempts from beyond the arc.
Eastern Connecticut was led by a 30-point night from Jalen Williams, who also grabbed a team-best eight rebounds. Thomas Close had 18 points on six threes and added three rebounds and three assists. Max Lee dished out eight assists for the Warriors in addition to four steals.
The Warriors ran out to an 11-0 lead before the Spartans got their first points of the game on a jumper from Sowunmi. Eight straight points from Eastern following Sowunmi's bucket pushed the gap to 19-2, but Castleton got a jumper from Schwarzbeck before Shaw converted a four-point play, hitting a three and making the ensuing free throw after being fouled. The Spartans' deficit grew to 21 points after another eight-point run by the Warriors, sitting at 35-14 with 6:26 to play in the first half. The Spartans whittled away slightly at the lead before the half, outscoring Eastern 10-7 over the final five minutes of play to go into the locker down 42-24.
Eastern continued to grow its lead in the early stages of the second half, reaching a game-high 23 points after another three by Williams made it a 57-24 game. Castleton began to claw its way back from there, as
Jordan Hunt put in a layup before Schwarzbeck tipped in a rebound. Eastern's Williams and Castleton's Torrence then traded threes to keep the gap at 19 points. After the two sides traded layups, Close hit a three for Eastern before Castleton answered with a 9-2 that featured a pair of threes by Torrence. The Spartans added a 7-2 run just minutes later, closing the gap to 75-61. After a Warrior free throw, Castleton scored the final five points of the game to make it a 10-point game, 76-66, when the final horn sounded.
The Spartans host Plymouth State Monday night at 7:30 p.m.
