Men's Basketball Falls to Castleton, 73-65, in Cave Classic Consolation Game

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- Sophomore guard Eric Shaw (Sutter Creek, Calif.) tallied 18 points and senior guard Tank Roberson (Pittsfield, Mass.) filled the stat sheet with 15 points, five rebounds and eight assists to lead Castleton University to a 73-65 victory over host Bridgewater State University in the consolation game of the 2018 Cave Classic.

Roberson earned All-Tournament accolades for the Spartans who also received 13 points and five boards from sophomore forward Richard Walker (Swanton, Vt.) and 12 points and seven rebounds from senior forward Ben Mrowka (Adelaide, Australia).

Junior guard Ryan Carney (Easton, Mass.) paced Bridgewater State with 18 points, eight rebounds and three assists. Junior forward Rayshon Ward (Fayetteville, N.C.) added 11 points and nine boards for the Bears, while sophomore center Nick Crocker (East Falmouth, Mass.) checked in with ten points, four rebounds and a pair of blocked shots.

Carney was the Bears' representative on the All-Tournament Team as he averaged 22 points during the tournament.

Castleton led 36-22 at the intermission and never relinquished the lead in the second half.

Down 67-58 with under two minutes remaining, BSU junior grant Brian Grant (Hyde Park, Mass.) buried a three-pointer to make things interesting. After a stop, sophomore guard Jonathan Mercado (Lynn, Mass.) dropped in a layup to pull the Bears to within four, 67-63, with 1:16 left to play. A Roberson bucket was answered by a Carney layup with just 35 second showing on the scoreboard as the Spartans' lead stayed at four, 69-65. A pair of free throws by Mrowka and two by Shaw in the final 27 second sealed the victory for Castleton.

The Spartans shot 46% (28-61) for the game and 11-for-26 (42%) from three-point range. The Bears connected on just 39% (25-64) of their field goal attempts and went 10-for-24 (42%) from behind the arc.

Castleton improves to 2-1 on the young season with the win, while Bridgewater State falls to 0-3.