CASTLETON, Vt. – The Spartans used a devastating full-court press to hound Johnson St. all night and attempted nearly 100 shots on offense, blowing out the Badgers 138-89 in Glenbrook Gym on Tuesday evening.
Castleton put up 99 shots, including 47 from beyond the arc, and made 50 of them on the way to tying a program record with 138 points. It matches the record of 138 set back on Feb. 18, 1989 against Johnson St. in Glenbrook Gym. The Spartans also set the record for steals in a game (31) while forcing 38 turnovers.
As a team Castleton shot 20-for-47 from downtown, one shy of the school record of 21 set during the first game of the 2011-12 season against Springfield. The Spartans also shot 51.0 percent from the floor and pulled down 52 rebounds. The Badgers grabbed 51 boards and shot just 34.8 from the field while connecting 9 of 20 shots from beyond the arc.
Logan White was one of seven players in double figures on the night and tied a program record with eight steals. It matched the mark set by Brian Bradley at Lasell in December of 2005. White finished with 16 points, including four triples while also dishing off a pair of assists.
Carnelius Green scored a team-high 22 points while hitting four threes and pulling down a team-high eight rebounds. Chad Copeland added 18 points, seven rebounds and two steals while Troy Davineadded 11 points, five rebounds, four steals, three assists and one emphatic block. Casey McGrawadded 14 points, including three shots from beyond the arc, two blocks and two steals.
Lester Alexander scored the Badgers' last nine points on the way to 27 total off the bench. Asim Kham was also in double figures with 15 points while Ron Adrian had 14 points, six rebounds and five turnovers.
The Spartans connected on their first three shots from downtown and jumped out to a 24-3 lead in just the first 5:08. Bryan Hickey ended the run at 14:27 and the teams traded baskets before a three-point play by Copeland made it 35-17 with 10:31 left.
Castleton continued to sub in waves of four and five, and less than three minutes later extended its lead to 32 on a three from Steve Rosemond off a feed from Tyler Ackley. Kham cut the lead to 20 at 6:32, but six straight made it a 60-34 contest with 5:41 left. Alex Homkey pushed the first-half lead as high as 30,72-42, with 2:56 remaining, before going into the break ahead 77-51.
McGraw led off the second half scoring with a three and just 4:02 in the period the Spartans extended their lead to 89-55 on a layup from Green off a steal by White. Castleton really put the game away a few minutes later with an 11-0 run, capped off by a pair of Cosrick McDonald layups for the 100-61 advantage with 12:39 still left in regulation.
The Spartans continued to push the pace and five minutes later extended their lead to 50, 118-68, on a layup by Copeland. Castleton's lead climbed as high as 55 with 4:24 left before finishing with the 49-point victory.
Rosemond added 13 points and four rebounds off the bench while Coloutti had 11. Ackley dished off a team-high ten assists while turning the ball over just twice in 19 minutes of action. Jahnathan Mitchell added seven points, five rebounds and two steals.
Castleton's 31 steals was the highest for any team in the NCAA this season, and broke the old record of 25, which was set both last game against Maine Maritime and in 1985 against Lyndon St. The team also finished with 31 assists, just one off the program record of 32. Eight different players recorded at least two assists in the contest while all 15 players scored at least two points.
The Spartans improve to 13-7 overall and 11-2 in the NAC with the victory while the Badgers drop to 5-14 overall and 2-10 in conference play.