Poultney, Vt. – Castleton came out firing and pressing as they finished just shy of the program-record for points in the team's 137-97 North Atlantic Conference victory over Green Mountain on Saturday afternoon.
The Spartans went over the century mark for the third consecutive game and came up one point short of matching the school record for points in a game, 138, matched earlier this week against Johnson St. Castleton also finished with a season-high 68 rebounds, including 31 offensive boards, while limiting the Eagles to 44 rebounds.
Castleton was 47-for-95 from the floor and hit 16 triples, improving to 14-7 and 12-2 in the NAC. Green Mountain made 42.5 percent of its shots overall but went just 3-for-20 from the beyond the arc and 32-for-53 from the free throw line as the Eagles dropped to 4-14 overall and 3-11 in conference play.
For the second straight game, seven players scored in double figures with no one going over 22 points. Logan White connected on six shots from downtown, grabbed six rebounds and finished with 22 points overall. Rob Coloutti had a strong game with 17 points, six rebounds, four assists and three steals while Steve Rosemond added 16 points and ten rebounds.
Cassius Belfon was Green Mountain's top scorer, with 31 points, including 12 made free throws. Javier Lugris added a double-double of 24 points and 10 rebounds and Robert Holloway had 15 points and six rebounds off the bench.
The Eagles opened the game on a 6-2 run but Casey McGraw connected on a triple, stole the ensuing inbounds pass and laid it in for the 7-6 advantage at 17:19. White added his first triple for the 10-6 lead. Both teams kept pushing the pace and a bucket from Cosrick McDonald extended Castleton's lead to 20-11 with 11:59 left.
The Spartans then used a 12-4 run to push their lead to 36-18 with 9:25 left in the first half. Two minutes later back-to-back threes from White extended the advantage to 49-25. Castleton made it a 30-point game on a pair of free throws with 4:14 remaining in the half and in the final minute of playAlex Homkey went on a personal 6-0 run for the 78-42 lead at the break.
In the second half the Spartans continued to push the pace and press full court. They surpassed the century mark on a pair of free throws by McDonald with just over 14 minutes left for the 101-61 advantage. Castleton kept its offense going and was in reach of a school-record point total after a pair of free throws from Jahnathan Mitchell with 1:45 left made it 137-94. However, the Spartans missed their final two shots from the floor and finished with the 30-point victory.
McGraw set a new career high with 16 points and dished off two assists while Chad Copelandregistered 14 points and ten rebounds. Homkey had a season-high 11 points and Mitchell rounded out the double figure scorers with ten points, three rebounds and three assists.
Castleton finished the game with 19 steals, including five from Carnelius Green. The Spartans also dished off 26 assists with eight players recording at least two. Tyler Ackley and Coloutti led the team with four apiece.
The Spartans return to action on Wednesday when they host Colby-Sawyer at 7:30 pm.