WATERVILLE, Maine – Junior forward Mark Comstock (Rutland, Vt.) led a trio of Spartans in double-figures with 24 points as Casleton State College downed Thomas College 91-90 in North Atlantic Conference (NAC) men's basketball action Saturday afternoon at the Larry Mahaney Gymnasium.
 
Matt Cooney (Washingtonville, N.Y.) scored a career-high 19 points on 7-for-11 shooting and hauled in nine boards off the bench, while Greg Hughes (West Rutland, Vt.) added 18 points on 6-for-17 shooting from beyond the three-point stripe.
 
Franklin Salvador (Somerville, Mass.) paced the Terriers with 23 points, including a 5-for-11 performance from beyond the arc, while Martin Cleveland (Portland, Maine) had a monster 19-point, 16-rebound double-double. Jarrad DeVaughn (Brockton, Mass.) added 18 points and nine boards and Stanley Greene, Jr. (Dorchester, Mass.) rounded out the Terriers in double figures with 13 points off the bench.
 
Castleton forced 22 Terrier turnovers and stroked 16 three-pointers in the contest, while turning the ball over just 12 times.
 
A lay-up by Greene, Jr. with just less than five minutes to play in the contest gave Thomas an 80-77 lead, but Castleton answered with a 12-2 run over the next three minutes of play to take control. Cooney sparked the surge, scoring seven-straight points, including a three-point-play with four minutes remaining to give the Spartans the lead. A Hughes three-pointer, followed by a Comstock jumper pushed the lead to 89-82 with less than two minutes to play.
 
But, the Terriers answered with eight-straight points from Salvador, including a pair of three's, to give the home squad a 90-89 lead with 30 seconds left.
 
After a timeout, Castleton's Keith Schneider (Benson, Vt.) found a cutting Comstock for what proved to be the game-winning lay-up. Thomas had one final chance, but a missed lay-up by DeVaughn, and subsequent steal by Comstock on a Cleveland offensive rebound sealed the win for Castleton.
 
The Spartans improve to 2-4, 1-1 with the win, while Thomas falls to 3-3, 1-1.
 
Castleton returns to action Tuesday at 7 when the Spartans host Skidmore in non-league action.