Men's Basketball: O'Loughlin, Raiders fall in final seconds to Castleton

(Nashua, N.H.) The Rivier University Men's Basketball team suffered a tough loss this evening to visiting Castleton University, 64-63 inside the Muldoon Gymnasium in a non-conference affair. The Raiders slide to 1-11 overall on the season while the Spartans improve to 6-7 overall.

The game came down to the final shot in which a free-throw opportunity with 0:01 left didn't bounce the Raiders way and Castleton collected the rebound to seal it.

It was a back-and-forth battle all night as neither team really took control of the contest. Castleton once held an eight point lead in the middle of the first half but the Raiders responded with a quick 9-0 to eliminate that deficit.

Sophomore Isaiah Chappell (Concord, N.H.) did not disappoint in his home debut as he shot 7-for-9 off the bench, including 4-of-6 from beyond the arc, to lead the Raiders with 23 points in a reserve effort. Classmate Joshua O'Loughlin (Milford, N.H.) also had a solid night as he added 12 points and freshman Tyler Bradanese (Billerica, Mass.) chipped in with 10 points and three blocked shots.

Castleton saw junior Julian Santos (Cordoba, Spain) total the team-high of 12 points with senior Tyler Arsenault (East Granby, Conn.) contributing with 10 points in the win. Senior Tondi Mushandu (Zimbabwe) pulled down the game-high of 10 rebounds while sophomore Josh Hanson (Guilford, Vt.) shot a perfect 4-for-4 as he finished with nine points.

Rivier outshot the Spartans on the night by a 46.7% to 41.2% margin while Castleton took the rebounding edge, 38-25.

The Raiders will return to the floor at the Muldoon Gymnasium on Thursday night as they host Albertus Magnus College in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference contest. Game is expected to begin at 7pm. Castleton will host Johnson State on Saturday afternoon in North Atlantic Conference action starting at 3pm.