Junior Rob Coloutti went to the line with just 26 seconds left and Castleton leading 72-70. He made his first shot but missed his second, allowing one final opportunity for the Panthers to force overtime. The Spartans played solid defense, switching on multiple picks and in the final seconds Logan Kesty was forced attempt a three from the wing with both Coloutti and Alexander Homkeyhounding him without fouling. The shot didn't even touch rim and Chad Copeland was there for the rebound. He then hit a pair of free throws with one second left to provide the final margin.
Castleton shot 49.2 percent from the floor in the game but just 21.4 percent from downtown. However, the Spartans held Plymouth St. to 41.8 percent shooting and did outrebound the Panthers 41-38 to improve to 2-1 overall. Plymouth St. recorded assists on 21 of its 28 field goals but dropped to 2-3 with the loss.
Copeland was dominant down low for Castleton to the tune of 31 points, 11 rebounds, three steals and one block. Senior Carnelius Green made a number of big plays to finish with 17 points, 11 rebounds, two blocks and two steals. Rob Coloutti was also in double figures with 14 points, four rebounds and two assists.
Alex Burt had the hot hand for the Panthers, scoring a team-high 17 points with seven rebounds and two assists. Curtis Arsenault added 12 points and seven rebounds while Ernie Johnson didn't score but filled up the stat sheet with eight assists and seven rebounds.
The Spartans used an early 8-0 run to pull in the front 15-5 at 14:46. Plymouth St. closed it to 17-14 three minutes later, but a personal 6-0 run by Copeland extended the lead to nine with 11:13 remaining. Eight straight by the Panthers gave them a 24-23 lead with 7:36 left and the teams traded points over the next five minutes. Trailing by one, Green hit a nice layup for the 35-34 advantage with only 1:35 left and following a Uche Nwokeji layup Copeland scored again for the 37-36 lead going into the half.
Neither team could gain any advantage in the fix six minutes of the second, with a layup from Green tying it 44 apiece a few minutes in. Plymouth took a slight 50-44 lead with six straight points before Green connected on a free throw to end the run at 12:15. The Spartans pulled within three on a 4-2 run by Copeland, however, the Panthers countered with a 7-2 spurt for a 59-51 advantage with 8:13 remaining.
Castleton responded six straight to pull within two points and Copeland eventually tied the game up 61-61 on a layup with 4:42 left. He gave them the lead one possession later but the Panthers tied it up again. The Spartans went back ahead on a corner three from Coloutti off a nice feed from Homkey and eventually led 68-65 before a triple from Nathan Clarke tied it up at 68 apiece with 1:47 remaining. Tied 70-70 just 45 seconds later, the Spartans threw it into Copeland and he connected on a baseline hook shot for the 72-70 lead with just 51 seconds remaining. Coloutti rebounded Plymouth St.'s next miss and was fouled to set up the final 26 seconds.
Homkey chipped in with four points and two assists off the bench while freshman Tondi Mushanduadded four assists, three rebounds, two points and two steals.
The Spartans return to action on Sunday when they travel to face Southern Vermont at 3 pm.