DARTMOUTH, Mass. – The Vermont State University Castleton men's basketball team battled UMass Dartmouth to the final possession on Saturday afternoon, but a final-possession shot by the Spartans rimmed out and the horn expired as the Corsairs held off VTSU Castleton 73-72 in Little East Conference action.
Joe Russell had 25 points on 11-of-19 shooting and hit a late layup that pulled the Spartans within a point. Four others joined Russell in double figures with
Zach Thompson scoring 12,
Scott Lampron and
Adam Bilodeau scoring 11 each and
Will Radcliff netting 10. Radcliff also dished out seven assists and had a team-high six rebounds. As a team, the Spartans hit 9-of-17 from three and made 7-of-9 free throws.
The Spartans outshot UMass Dartmouth from the floor, hitting 54.9 percent while the Corsairs made 44.4 percent. Castleton made nine threes as a team with UMass Dartmouth hitting 11 from distance to provide the difference in the final score.
Three Corsairs reached double figures scoring with Isaac Percy scoring 23, Jackson Zancan 16 and Josh Lopes 14. Michael Eurquhart Jr. had seven rebounds and Jayquan Leonard dished out six assists.
The entire second half was back-and-forth in the contest after the Spartans took the lead from UMass Dartmouth out of halftime on a three-point play by Russell. The Corsairs scored the next five to move ahead 47-43. The lead stretched to 54-45 for UMass Dartmouth before the Spartans posted nine unanswered points to tie the score at 54-54. The run featured baskets from three different Spartans, with Thompson hitting a layup and a three at the end of the spurt.
The Corsairs canned back-to-back threes to halt the Spartans' momentum and take a six-point lead, 60-54, Castleton hung tough and posted an 11-2 run to take a 66-64 lead. The stretch began with Lampron hitting all three free throw attempts after being fouled from distance. Bilodeau then buried a three and
Justin Schwarzbeck capped the run with a three of his own after Russell had dropped in a layup. The Corsairs answered quickly with a three to regain the edge, 67-66, but Russell responded with a layup for Castleton to make it 68-67 in favor of the visiting side.
A four-point run by the Corsairs gave the hosts a three-point lead, but Russell again cut it to a lone point with 1:28 to play with a layup on an assist from Thompson. Percy cushioned the lead once more for the Corsairs with a layup of his own to make it 73-70 with 1:07 to play. After a Spartan timeout, Russell missed a layup, but the rebound went to the Spartans. On the ensuing possession, Thompson found a cutting Russell for a layup and a 73-72 score with 31 seconds to play.
VTSU Castleton fouled to protect the clock and force a 1-and-1 attempt from UMass Dartmouth. The Corsairs missed the first one, but collected the rebound and forced Castleton to foul again. On the ensuing 1-and-1 attempt, the Corsairs missed the front end once more, this time with Castleton rebounding. The board gave the Spartans a final possession which saw Lampron rise up from the elbow, but his shot was just off the mark as time wound down and the Corsairs hung on for the narrow victory.
The Spartans are back on the hardwood Tuesday night at 7:30 p.m. when they host Plymouth State at Glenbrook Gym.
