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If the Murfreesboro Musicians are the top contenders for the WBA title, then the Rome Gladiators should easily defend their crown.

On Thursday, Lamar Castille led four Gladiators in double figures, pouring in 23 points to pace Rome to a 116-99 win over the Musicians at Shorter College’s Winthrop-King Centre.

“We played good for three quarters but the last four minutes of the game we did not play well,” said Glads coach Harold Ellis, who had made the Musicians out to the be the 1993 Chicago Bulls.

“We’ve got to be tougher,” he said. “We made some good plays, but we have to be better.”

Shaun Fountain scored 20 points, Ray Cunningham 19 and Jack Ingram 10.

Murfreesboro’s Tommy Gunn had 25 points (17 second half), Cedric McGinnis 20, Damien Goodwan 18 and Fats Cuyler 12.

Even though the Musicians were slightly out of tune on Thursday, the Gladiators were simply much better than in their opener last Saturday.

They shot 56 percent from the field, which is not great, but Rome got 55 points in the game from its bench, compared to the Musicians’ 23.

Rome had 25 points from its bench in the first half to Murfreesboro’s seven.

Also, Rome had 20 turnovers in the game, 12 fewer than it had in the opener.

Rome also had 26 points in the game off the fast break to the Musicians’ eight and 76 of the Glads’ points came in the paint, something Ellis wanted to see going into the game.

One of the main keys to Rome’s win was Castille, who had a breakout night overall.

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