CASTLETON, Vt. – Seven different players scored in double figures, including all four dressed seniors, to propel Castleton to a dominant 134-82 victory over Green Mountain on Saturday afternoon in the team's regular season finale at Glenbrook Gym.
The Spartans surpassed the 130-point barrier for the fourth time this year with a complete team effort and helped by the fact they shot an impressive 20-for-42 from beyond the arc. Castleton also swiped at least 25 steals for the third time this year, with 26, and is now the only team in the nation to accomplish that feat this year.
Senior Alex Homkey put forth his best effort of the season, scoring a season-high 20 points, including three triples, while also pulling down five rebounds and blocking a shot. Brandon Bergeron made the most of his start, going 4-for-5 from downtown for a career-high 12 points and dishing off four assists. Logan White added 15 points, six steals and four assists while Tyler Ackley was in the middle of it all with ten points, nine assists, six steals and two rebounds.
Castleton finishes North Atlantic Conference play with a program-best 16-2 mark and goes into the NAC Tournament seeded second. The team is now 18-7 overall and has its second seven-game win streak of the year. Green Mountain ended its season at 4-18 and 3-15 in the NAC.
The 20 Spartan threes is tied for the second most in program history, matching the number they put up against Johnson St. earlier this year. Six different players hit at least two triples, including Troy Davine, who finished with 19 points, six rebounds, three assists and three steals. Cosrick McDonaldwent 2-for-2 from downtown and finished with 11 points and seven rebounds in just 12 minutes.Carnelius Green was also in double figures with 15 points, seven rebounds, three assists and two steals.
Cody Crandall was one of two Green Mountain players in double figures, scoring 19 points and pulling down three rebounds. Dakota Dodson added 13 points and two assists while Robert Holloway had nine points and seven rebounds.
Castleton never trailed and jumped out to 11-2 lead ,with nine points coming from the duo of Homkey and Bergeron, in just three minutes. The Spartans pushed their lead to 32-11 at 11:02 on a Green layup and continued to pressure the Eagles over the next five minutes. A Dasean Mundell layup with 5:29 left cut the lead to 21, 44-23, but Castleton responded with back-to-back threes from White and Homkey to make it 50-23. McDonald scored the Spartans' final eight points of the half and they went into the break with a 67-37 lead.
Green Mountain cut the Castleton advantage below 40 three minutes into the second half, but a 10-2 run minutes later gave the Spartans a 86-51 lead at 14:40. Davine went on a 10-0 personal run minutes later and Castleton hit the century mark on a pair of free throws from Homkey with 11 minutes remaining to make it 100-61. The Spartans didn't let up and saw their lead climb as high as 60 on a three from Rob Coloutti in the final five minutes before finishing with the 52-point win.
The 52-point margin of victory is the largest for Castleton since the 2011-12 season when the team beat Green Mountain by 55, 118-63, at home.
The Spartans will now face seventh seed New England College on Tuesday evening in the NAC Quarterfinals at Glenbrook Gym.