WILLIMANTIC, Conn. – The Vermont State Castleton men's basketball team scored the first seven points of the game and led by 16 with six minutes left in the first half, leading from coast-to-coast in a 77-64 Little East Conference victory over Eastern Connecticut State University Saturday afternoon at Francis E. Geissler Gymnasium.
Entering play with only an outside chance to qualifying for the LEC tournament. Eastern's (13-10, 4-10) chances became smaller after the loss which gave LEC bottom-feeder Castleton (4-18, 3-11 LEC) a split of the LEC regular-season series. The Warriors had posted a 75-65 victory over the Spartans a month ago.
With two games remaining, Eastern shares seventh place in the LEC with Plymouth State University, two games behind the University of Southern Maine and the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth for the sixth and final LEC tournament spot. Southern Maine defeated UMass Dartmouth, 89-73, at home Saturday.
Unofficially, one UMass Dartmouth win in its final two games (at Keene State and hosting Western Connecticut) would eliminate the Warriors from contention. If Eastern and UMass Dartmouth finish tied in the standings, Eastern would get the nod based upon sweeping the Corsairs in the regular season, both wins by two points.
Against Castleton Saturday, Eastern was 2-of-21 from three-point range and allowed 21 points off its 18 turnovers as the Spartans won for only the second time this year in 12 road games.
Trailing by ten with a minute left in the first half, Eastern cut the gap in half behind a pair of free throws from sophomore guard Esco Greene (New Britain) and junior forward Jalen Hamblin's (West Hartford) three-point play off a pass from senior forward Sheriff Bilewu (Waterbury). Sophomore forward Julian Sanchez (Willimantic) made it a three-point game with an inside bucket off a pass from Greene in the first minute of the second half, but the Warriors missed two three-point field goal attempts and turned the ball over twice in Castleton's 10-2 scoring run that returned the Spartan lead to double-digits, 48-37, four minutes into the second half.
Graduate forward Justin Schwarzbeck, after managing only six points in 25 minutes in Castleton's loss this year to Eastern, led his team with 21 points (9-of-12 FG) and his 11 rebounds helped the Spartans to a +11 advantage on the boards. Sophomore guard Troy Butler and junior forward Will Radcliff – ranked 1-2 in scoring this year for Castleton -- followed Schwarzbeck with 19 and 14 points, respectively. Buter scored eight of his points on 11 free throw attempts while Radcliff converted all five of his field goals and added six rebounds. Radcliff and senior guard Conner McKearin combined for 11 assists.
Hamblin, sidelined with a wrist injury in Eastern's win over Castleton earlier this year, came off the bench to equal his career-high with a game-high 29 points but was the Warriors' only double-digit scorer. Hamblin was 8-of-15 from the floor and 11-of-12 from the stripe as he scored nearly half of Eastern's points. He also led the Warriors with six rebounds. Three Eastern starters combined for only 11 points on 4-of-18 field goal shooting (0-of-9 from distance).
Eastern hosts Rhode Island College (14-9, 9-5 LEC) Wednesday at 7 p.m. in its regular-season home finale. The Anchormen, who will unofficially be seeded third in the LEC tournament, pinned a 75-61 loss on the Warriors three weeks ago at the Murray Center.