CASTLETON, Vt. – The Castleton University men's basketball team led into the second half on Wednesday night against UMass Boston, but the hot-shooting Beacons were too much to overcome in Little East Conference action as the Spartans fell 71-51.
Castleton (5-17, 0-13) carried a 29-26 lead into the locker room at halftime, but UMass Boston shot nearly 60 percent from three-point range (10-of-17) in the second half to pull away in the contest. In total, Castleton shot 34.0 percent (17-of-50) from the floor and 31.8 percent (7-of-22) from three. UMass Boston made 43.5 percent (27-of-62) from the floor and 44.8 percent (13-of-29) from three. Castleton was also 10-of-13 at the free-throw line. The Beacons won the rebounding battle, 41-29, and the turnover battle, 15-12.
Johnny Torrence led the Spartans with 12 points on the night, while
Oluwadare Sowunmi chipped in 11 points and four rebounds.
Joe Alamprese added eight points with four boards.
Darrell Hardge had seven points for Castleton.
Charles Mitchell racked up 25 points, hitting 9-of-18 overall and 6-of-12 from distance. Michael Walsh added 15 points and Malik Lorquet had 14. Lorquet also grabbed 16 rebounds and blocked seven shots in the contest. Charlie Mitchell dished out nine assists and grabbed six rebounds.
The Beacons took an early lead when Bobby Joy buried a three on the opening possession of the game, but Castleton scored nine unanswered from there to take a 9-2 lead three minutes into the contest. After a Lorquet layup, Castleton scored five more unanswered points to push the gap to 14-5. The Beacons chipped away slowly at the lead, cutting it back to 17-15 after a 10-3 run that spanned more than three minutes before Torrence hit a three to stop the bleeding. The lead reached eight points once again after a three from Hardge and a put-back by Alamprese, but a 9-2 run by UMass Boston pulled the visitors within one late in the frame, 27-26. Sowunmi put in a last-second layup to close the half with Castleton leading by three, 29-26.
Sowunmi bookended the halftime break with another layup on Castleton's first possession of the stanza to make it 31-26, but back-to-back threes from Charles Mitchell put the Beacons ahead for the first time since the opening minutes, 33-32. Two free throws by Sowunmi gave Castleton a one-point lead once again, but it was the last lead Castleton held in the game. Five unanswered points by the Beacons gave them their largest lead at the time, 37-33, but Alamprese hit a three to make it a one-point game. Walsh answered with a three on the other end for UMass Boston, jump-starting a 17-2 run that was capped with a flourish on a fast-break dunk by Lorquet. UMass Boston hit four more threes in a four-minute stretch to push its lead to 20 points, 66-46. The two sides traded free throws on the way out, reaching the final score of 71-51.
The Spartans are back in action Saturday at 4 p.m. at Western Connecticut State.
