Castleton men's basketball hung on for a 76-71 North Atlantic Conference (NAC) victory over Johnson State Tuesday night in Carter Gymnasium. With the loss, the Badgers slide to 2-17 on the year and 2-10 in NAC play while Castleton moves to 11-8 overall and 9-4 in the conference. 

Ron Adrian scored 18 points to lead the Badgers offensively and added four rebounds on the night.  Asim Khan tallied 17 points while recording two rebounds, three assists, two steals and two blocks. Demetrius Slade rounded out the Badgers scoring notching 14 points on the evening. 

Carnelius Green led all scorers with 19 points, nine rebounds, four assists and three steals, while Rob Coloutti tallied 18 and Pavin Parrish posted 13 points in the Spartans winning effort. 

The two teams battled back and forth exchanging leads for the first nine minutes of play until a  pair of free throws and a made lay-up from Slade put the Badgers up 20-18 with 10:30 left in the first half. Th Badgers kept the pressure up closing out the half 37-34.

In the second half the Badgers went up by as many as 10 points with 12:12 remaining in the game, following a Rob Hazard made 3-pt. jump shot three. The Spartans used a second half surge to take back the lead though, using points from Cornelius Green and Pavin Parish to push past the hosts. The Badgers did not go quietly, seeing Asim Khan score six fast points at the end of the half to close the gap to just five. The Spartans finished by outscoring the hosts 43-34 in the second half for a final score of 76-71.

The Badgers hit the road for a pair of conference games next Friday and Saturday at Maine Maritime and Husson while Castleton will host Green Mountain on Saturday.