SVC cruises past Castleton, 101-84

2017 Nov 27

Southern Vermont College menas basketball coach Dan Engelstad's greatest concern about Saturdayas game with Castleton was solving the Spartans' defensive pressure. Once the Mountaineers did that they were able to cruise to a 101-84 victory over the Spartans.

Due to Thanksgiving, Engelstad had only a single day to prepare for Castleton's all-out pressure defense where the Spartans press all over the floor by keeping fresh legs in the lineup through wholesale substitutions.

Engelstad did not like the way his team was attacking that pressure the first two trips down the floor and he called a timeout less than a minute into the game.

Shuffling players in and out like hockey lines a 10 different Spartans played 14 minutes or more a coach Paul Culpo had his Spartans (2-3) in the game against the Mountaineers (4-0) midway through the first half. After Ben Mrowka canned a 3-point field goal and Eli Lombardi drained a free throw the Spartans had a 27-25 lead.

This is where the tenor of the game changed. The Mountaineers went on a 10-0 run to take a 35-27 lead and never looked back.

Daemond Carter sank a 3-pointer near the end of the half that allowed Southern Vermont to take a 50-39 lead into the locker room. Carter had a superb floor game to go with 12 points. He had five assists to no turnovers, grabbed six rebounds and had four steals.

"I wanted to make sure they hadn't forgotten what we had worked on Friday," Engelstad of that very early timeout. "If you let Castleton pressure you, you are in trouble."

"They play an unorthodox style and it is hard to get ready for. I'm a defensive coach and it is fun to watch these guys get the concepts."

The Mountaineers were coming off a 90-89 victory over Fitchburg State in which they won the game on a 3-pointer by Kyle Depollar with 1.2 seconds remaining.

It was evident they would not need a buzzer-beater on this day as they built the lead to 24 points in the second half.

But the Spartans did have a run in them. A 7-1 spurt punctuated by a 3-pointer from Julian Santos sliced the lead to 82-68 compelling Engelstad to call a timeout.

The Spartans did not quit and pared the lead to 12 a couple of times.

SVC had great balance with six players in double figures led by Tyler Mcleod (18), Claude Payne (17) and Mike Pierre and Depollar (13 each).

Mrowka knocked down four of his eight shots behind the 3-point line and led the Spartans with 16 points. Santos followed with 13 points, Pavin Parrish had 12 and Tyler Arsenault 10. Arsenault also had a team-high five rebounds. Parrish had a solid game with five assists and three steals.

The Spartans are at Johnson State in their North Atlantic Conference opener on Tuesday night. Southern Vermont defeated Johnson this season 66-57.

Southern Vermont's next game is on Dec. 2 when it hosts Pine Manor.

SVC was picked to finish No. 2 in the eight-team New England Collegiate Conference behind Becker College.