Middlebury, Vt. – The Spartans led No. 21 Middlebury at the break but couldn't pull off their second top-25 upset of the season as the Panthers used strong play in the paint to come away with a 90-80 win on Tuesday night in Pepin Gym. 

Castleton was outscored 42-22 inside but nearly made up the deficit by shooting an impressive 12-for-24 from downtown as the team fell to 1-3 on the year. Middlebury, meanwhile, scored 49 points and shot 60 percent from the field in the second half to improve to 5-2 overall. 

The Spartans were also whistled for 27 fouls in the contest, resulting 39 free throw attempts for the Panthers. Middlebury made 29 from the charity stripe while Castleton shot 14-for-20 on free throws. 

Logan White led the barrage from downtown, shooting 4-for-9 from long range en route to a game-high 24 points. He also added four rebounds and two assists in a team-high 33 minutes. Chad Copeland added 18 points while Steve Rosemond was also in double figures with 16. Copeland grabbed a team-high six rebounds. 

Middlebury forwards James Jensen and Jack Roberts combined to shoot 11-for-15 from the floor and 12-for-17 from the free throw line, scoring 22 and 12 points respectively. Joey Kizel added 19 points and four assists while playing a game-high 38 minutes. And Hunter Merryman chipped in with 14 points. 

Castleton came out strong with red-hot shooting early on. The Spartans connected on six of their first nine three-point attempts to take a 29-22 lead on a trey from Rosemond with 9:48 left in the first half. 

The Panthers answered with a 7-0 run, behind a bucket from Jake Brown to come within one at 30-29 with 7:21 remaining. The game went back and forth before a three from Kizel gave the Panthers their first lead of the game, 37-36 with 3:03 remaining. Despite a late put-back by Jack Roberts, Castleton went into the locker room with a 42-41 lead. 

The Spartans shot 57.1 percent from the floor in the first half, knocking down 7-12 (.583) from long range. The Panthers controlled the boards with a 22-12 advantage, including 15 second-chance points. 

Middlebury led by one early in the second half before back-to-back threes from Rob Coloutti and Rosemond put Castleton on top, 54-49. The Spartans later led by six when the Panthers went on a 9-0 run to take a 60-57 lead on a hoop from Nate Bulluck with 12:29 remaining. 

The Panthers held a slim lead for the next 10 minutes until White knocked down a three to tie the game at 78-78 with 3:04 remaining. Castleton scored only two more points in the game, going 0-2 from the floor (both threes), committing two turnovers and hitting 2-4 from the line. Conversely, Middlebury scored on its final five possessions following the tie. 

The Spartans return to action on Saturday when they host New England College at 1 pm in their North Atlantic Conference opener.