CASTLETON, Vt. – In a rematch of the 2010 North Atlantic Conference Men's Basketball Final, fourth-seeded Castleton State College came away with an 80-67 win over the fifth seed University of Maine at Farmington this evening at Glenbrook Gymnasium.

With the win, Castleton (15-11) advances to the NAC semifinal round where the Spartans will square off against top-seeded Husson. Farmington's season closed out at 10-15.

Senior forward Eric Taylor (Oakland, Maine) finished with a double-double 18 points and 16 rebounds, going 9-for-10 from the field to pace the Beavers. Senior DJ Gerrish (Rumford, Maine) added 16 points, while senior Andrew Dean (Gorham, Maine) chipped in 11 points.

Sophomore forward Mark Comstock (Rutland, Vt.) scored a game-high 18 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the field and grabbed five rebounds to lead three Spartans in double-figures. Junior Jared Paul (Tampa, Fla.) scored 15, including a 6-for-7 performance from the charity stripe and Senior Mike Knight (Spring Valley, N.Y.) added 13 points and team-high seven rebounds in the win.

Castleton grabbed an 18-17 lead midway through the first half on a Dammy Mustapha (Bellows Falls, Vt.) layup and didn't trail again, building its lead to as many as 13 before ending the half at 40-31.

A 12-4 Farmington run keyed by Taylor (six points) and Gerrish (four points) to open the second half sliced the deficit to 44-43 with just over 15 minutes to go. But, the Spartans answered with a 12-0 spurt over the next three minutes of action, fueled by six points from Knight, to push the lead up to 56-43. Another Farmington push cut the deficit to five with nine minutes remaining, but once again Castleton answered and had the game back to double-digits and out of reach two minutes later.

In an evenly matched game from the start, both teams shot well from the field as Farmington finished 27-for-59 (45.8%) and Castleton ended up 27-for-56 (48.2 percent). Castleton held a distinct advantage at the free throw line however, making 21-of-32 (65.6 percent) attempts, while Farmington was just 9-for-17 (52.9 percent).