FITCHBURG, Mass. – The Vermont State University men's basketball team snapped a three-game skid on Tuesday evening, winning 77-64 on the road against Fitchburg State.
VTSU Castleton shot well as a team, hitting 44.8 percent overall and 47.1 percent from three-point range in the game. It was the most efficient shooting performance of the season from beyond the arc, and the Spartans' 17 made free throws were second most in a game to date this year. The Castleton defense held Fitchburg to 34.7 percent shooting and just 23.1 percent from three.
Joe Russell had a game-high 23 points, going 7-of-10 from the floor and 7-of-10 at the free throw line. He made each of his first six shots on the night, and scored seven of Castleton's first nine points. He also had six rebounds.
Scott Lampron chipped in 19 points thanks to four three-pointers, and
Adam Bilodeau added 11 points with five rebounds.
Will Radcliff led the Spartans with six assists and had six points.
Conner McKearin collected eight points off the bench and
Zach Thompson had seven points.
Fitchburg had just one scorer reach double figures, with Donald Brown Jr. scoring 10 points. 13 different players scored at least two points, and Kamau Franks had eight rebounds.
Castleton dominated the first half, going ahead 9-0 behind the hot hand of Russell who had seven points in the stretch. Another lengthy run extended the lead to 17-3 and a high-scoring streak ran the gap all the way up to 25 points with less than eight minutes to play in the half, 33-8. The lead reached a game-high 31 points after a pair of free throws by
Justin Schwarzbeck with 4:55 left in the first half made it 42-11. The Falcons scored 10 points in the final five minutes of the half, but Castleton went to locker room leading 48-21.
The Falcons never threatened in the second half, with the Spartans maintaining a 20-plus-point lead all the way inside the two-minute mark. A large chunk of Fitchburg's second-half points came in the final two minutes as they chipped the lead down to 13 points, but the Spartan lead was more than sufficient to withstand the 9-0 run by Fitchburg to end the contest.
Castleton wraps up the first half of the season on Saturday at 4 p.m. when WestConn comes to Glenbrook Gym for a Little East Conference matchup.
