Farmington, Maine – Castleton erased a 12-point halftime deficit by shooting nearly 60 percent in the final 20 minutes en route to 62 points and a 98-92 comeback victory over the University of Maine at Farmington in a crucial North Atlantic Conference matchup.
Trailing 90-89 with less than a minute remaining, Troy Davine found Logan White about 25 feet out on the wing and the senior drilled the three-point attempt to put the Spartans in front for good, 92-90, with 52 seconds left. The defense did the rest, allowing just one layup in the last 30 seconds while White and Tyler Ackley combined to go 6-for-6 from the free throw line.
Overall the Spartans made 10 of their 18 shots from beyond the arc in the second half and shot 59.5 percent from the field to improve to 17-7 overall and 15-2 in the NAC. With the win they remain securely in second place in the conference. The Beavers shot 48.6 percent from the floor but made just 22.2 percent of their shots from downtown and went 16-for-24 from the charity stripe as they dropped to 8-7 in the conference and 10-12 overall.
White finished the game with 21 second-half points as well as six threes and 27 points overall to lead the offense. Troy Davine put forth an impressive effort with 21 points, a career-high five threes, six rebounds and seven assists. Chad Copeland added 14 points and five rebounds while Steve Rosemondalso had 14.
All five starters scored in double figures for the Beavers, led by Ben Johnson who finished with 29 points, ten offensive rebounds and 16 total boards. Andrew Dickey added 19 points and seven rebounds while Garret Clemmer had 15 points, four rebounds and two assists.
UMF put the Spartans in a 21-14 hole just 7:31 into the game, but seven consecutive points tied the game up 21 apiece at 11:19. Castleton then jumped in front 26-24 on a three from Davine and a Rosemond layup with 9:52 left.
One minute later the Spartans held a 27-26 advantage, however, the Beavers went on a 14-1 run to pull in front 40-28 with 4:30 remaining. Copeland cut the deficit to ten, seven seconds later, but UMF stretched its lead as high at 15 in the final minutes before a three from Davine left Castleton trailing 48-36 at the half.
The Spartans opened the second half on an 11-4 run to pull within five, 52-47. The Beavers came back with five consecutive points for the ten-point lead with 15:45 left. However, a 16-5 run in less than three minutes, including five straight from Rob Coloutti, pushed Castleton back in front, 63-62. The teams continued to go back-and-forth until a 7-0 spurt made it 75-72 UMF with 8:21 left.
Three minutes later White gave Castleton a 79-78 lead with a three. The Beavers quickly came back to grab an 83-81 advantage with 4:12 left and the teams traded baskets until a Johnson layup put UMF in front 90-87 at 1:51. Rosemond scored on an offensive rebound and put-back 12 seconds later to make it a one-point game and White gave the Spartans their final lead with his long three in the final minute.
Today's game marked the first time during the team's six-game win streak in which Castleton did not surpass 100 points. During the streak the team is still averaging 119.5 points per game with all six wins coming in conference play.
The Spartans conclude their regular season next Saturday when they host Green Mountain at 3 pm on senior day.