CASTLETON, Vt. – The Castleton University men's basketball team fell to UMass Dartmouth on Saturday afternoon by a 68-57 final score at Glenbrook Gym in Little East Conference action.
The Spartans fall to 3-11 on the season and 0-6 in LEC play, while UMass Dartmouth moves to 4-11 overall and 3-4 in the conference. The win was career win No. 700 for UMass Dartmouth head coach Brian Baptiste. Baptiste is the winningest active coach in NCAA Division III.
Castleton shot 40.0 percent from the field, hitting 20-of-50 in the game with six threes. UMass Dartmouth shot 39.7 percent, making 23-of-58 shots with 11 triples in the contest. Both teams made 11 free throws. UMass Dartmouth won the rebounding battle 37-32 and outscored Castleton 16-5 off turnovers.
Justin Schwarzbeck poured in a game-high 18 points for Castleton, hitting four threes and grabbing four rebounds.
Tray Wright added 16 points, six rebounds and five assists.
Ryan Holland had seven points and
Jordan Hunt chipped in six points and five boards.
John Walsh had a team-high seven rebounds.
Jackson Zancan had 16 points for UMass Dartmouth while tying for a team-high with seven rebounds. Isaac Percy had 15 points and Dhalyn Sanders-Dyer added 12. Jayquan Leonard dished out six assists.
The Corsairs scored the first four points of the game before Castleton answered with a layup from Wright and the first of four threes from Schwarzbeck for a 5-4 lead. A third layup by Percy—who scored the first six points of the game for UMass Dartmouth—made it 6-5, but Castleton went on a 5-0 run for a 10-6 lead. Schwarzbeck and Holland both hit threes for Castleton to make it 16-10 Spartans just over six minutes into play, and a later three by
Evan Pockette made it 23-17 with less than eight minutes to go in the opening half.
UMass Dartmouth clawed its way back from there, using a 6-0 run take a 26-25 lead after a three-point play by Zancan. Schwarzbeck stopped the bleeding with a three to make it 28-26 Castleton, but a 7-0 run by UMass Dartmouth gave the visitors a five-point lead late in the half, 33-28. Castleton notched back-to-back layups in the final minute to pull within one, but a late three by Zancan sent UMass Dartmouth to the locker room with a 38-34 lead.
Castleton came out firing in the second half, opening the stanza on a 9-3 run to regain the lead, 43-41. A layup on the other end tied the score before Schwarzbeck knocked down two free throws for a 45-43 lead. The Corsairs then hit consecutive threes to regain the lead 49-45. A jumper by Pockette pulled Castleton within two before Zancan had four unanswered points for the Corsairs to extend the gap back to 53-47. Another Schwarzbeck triple and a layup by Wright drew Castleton within one, 53-52, but that was as close as Castleton could get as a 9-2 run over the next three minutes gave UMass Dartmouth a comfortable lead until the final horn.
Castleton returns to action against Keene State—currently ranked No. 4 in the nation by D3hoops.com—on Wednesday night. Tip-off is slated for 7:30 p.m. in Keene, N.H.
