ALBANY, N.Y. – The Vermont State University Castleton men's basketball team suffered its first loss of the season on Wednesday night, falling to Russell Sage College 73-43 at the Kahl Campus Center in Albany, N.Y.
 
Zach Thompson had a game-high 11 points for the Spartans (1-1), making 4-of-8 from the field. Will Radcliff had nine points and five rebounds and Joe Russell added six points for the Spartans. Justin Schwarzbeck's seven boards were a team high.
 
Sage had three players score double figures and 12 players get on the scoresheet in total. Jackson Brown led the way with 11 points for the Gators (3-0) followed by 10 points each from Deavion Springsteen and Marcus Gentile. Will Ruiz and Tahirou Hamidou had eight rebounds each.
 
The Sage defense held VTSU Castleton to just 25.0 percent shooting in the contest (14-of-56) while the Gators' offense connected on 51.7 percent from the field (30-of-58). The Gators out-rebounded Castleton 49-27 and had a 38-22 edge in points in the paint.
 
The game was tight for the first five minutes as Castleton held a 9-7 lead, but a 19-1 run by the Gators gave the hosts a commanding lead, 26-10. The Gators continued to pour it on before halftime, taking a 40-12 lead into the break and never looking back the rest of the way.
 
The Spartans look to get back in the win column this weekend with the Ken Wright Tournament at Amherst. The Spartans take on the host Mammoths on Friday night in the opener at 5 p.m.