Box Score NEW LONDON, N.H. – January 7, 2014 – The Castleton State College men's basketball team used a 27-5 spurt to begin the second half after the game was tied 39-39 to defeat Colby-Sawyer, 92-67 in North Atlantic Conference (NAC) action Tuesday evening.

BOX SCORE

Castleton improves to 5-5 overall and 3-1 in conference play. The Spartans will play the third of its four-game road trip on Thursday at Lyndon with a 5:30 p.m. tip. The Chargers drop to 4-6 overall and 3-1 in the NAC. Colby-Sawyer hosts Maine-Farmington on Friday evening at 5:30 p.m.

Tied 39-39 at the half, the Spartans shot 57.1% from the floor and hit eight three-pointers in the second to cruise to the victory. The Spartans also benefited from 28 Colby-Sawyer miscues and turned them into 36 points. 

Chad Copeland led four Castleton players in double figures with 18 points and also grabbed a team-high 11 rebounds. Logan White chipped in with 16 points and three steals. Casey McGraw added a career-high 12 points while Chad Pulver had 11 points and five rebounds. Tyler Ackley was solid with eight points, five assists and four steals.

Koang Thok (Portland, Maine) led the Chargers with 15 points and five rebounds while Wol Majong (Manchester, N.H.) added 12 points and three rebounds. Peter Donato (Portland, Maine) pulled down a team-high six rebounds and scored eight points.

The Spartans opened up the game with a 10-6 lead through the first four minutes, however, Colby-Sawyer came back to take a 17-16 lead on a back-to-back threes by Thok midway through the half.

It was back-and-forth for the final ten minutes of the half as neither team was able to get in a rhythm with numerous fouls and turnovers on both sides slowing the pace of play. A White free throw put Castleton in front 39-37 with 35 seconds left but a last-second layup by Zach Bean (Scarborough, Maine) tied it 39 apiece at the break.

The Spartans came out firing, opening the second half on a 15-2 run in the first 3:42 to grab a 54-41 lead on a three by Ackley off an assist from Carnelius Green. Castleton kept pushing the pace and extended its advantage to 64-44 at 13:30 when Ackley found Rob Coloutti in the corner for a triple. Ackley followed with a layup to make it 66-44 less than a minute later.

Over the next three minutes the teams traded hoops, until a three from Doug Krouse pushed the lead to 76-53. Four straight by Chad Copeland extended the Spartan advantage to 82-56 at 7:31, which then ballooned to the widest margin of the game at 90-60 with 5:56 remaining.