CASTLETON, Vt. – The Spartans used a variety of defenses to confuse and frustrate Maine Maritime on their way to a 92-58 victory over the Mariners on Friday evening in Glenbrook Gym.
Castleton jumped out to a 28-point halftime lead by forcing 18 first-half turnovers as the team improved to 4-3 overall and 2-0 in the North Atlantic Conference. Maine Maritime shot 30.4 percent for the contest as the team dropped to 1-8 overall and 0-3 in conference action.
The Spartans finished the contest with 21 steals on their way to forcing a total of 32 turnovers. They outrebounded the Mariners 47-41 while shooting 36.1 percent from the field and 43.3 percent from beyond the arc. Castleton also went an impressive 27-for-30 from the charity stripe and dished off 17 assists.
Rob Coloutti scored a team-high 19 points to go with four rebounds and two steals in just 14 minutes of action. Logan White also played just 14 minutes but went 5-for-7 from downtown, finishing with 15 points, four rebounds and two assists. Chad Copeland was also in double figures with 10 points and six rebounds. Tyler Ackley led the offense with four assists whileBrandon Bergeron grabbed a team-high seven rebounds to go with three points, three assists and three steals.
Garret Libby led Maritime with 12 points and two steals while Dylan Price came off the bench to provide six points and four assists. John –Peter Michaud grabbed a team-high nine rebounds while adding two points and one steal.
The Mariners jumped out to a 5-0 lead just 64 seconds into the game; however, back-to-back threes from Coloutti and White gave Castleton back the lead just 40 seconds later. Maritime traded hoops with the Spartans until another triple from Coloutti gave Castleton an 11-9 lead and jumpstarted a 12-0 run. Jason Hatch broke the run at 12:05 to make it 20-11, though the Spartans responded with ten straight, capped off with a three from Doug Krouse for the 30-11 lead with 7:35 left.
A layup by the Mariners' Zach Radcliffe ended the run at 7:16; however, the Castleton offense put together a 9-2 run to extend its lead to 42-16 with 3:43 left in the half. The Spartans didn't connect on a field goal the rest of the half, but went 5-for-6 from the line and only gave up three points to own a 47-19 lead at the break.
Castleton opened the second on a 10-3 run over the first three minutes to take a 57-22 lead. The Spartans pushed their lead to 65-28 on a triple by Casey McGraw with 15 minutes left in the contest. Castleton subbed liberally through the last 15 minutes of action. The Spartans' lead did climb as high as 45, with 4:47 remaining, before finishing with the 34-point victory.
Castleton returns to action on Saturday at 1 pm when the Spartans host Husson.