Hamilton, Ont. - The McMaster men's basketball team took out the visiting Guelph Gryphons at Burridge Gymnasium on Wednesday night. McMaster's Big Mac Player of the Game was Adam Presuitt in the 82-74 win. 

Both teams scored early in the game, trading leads and baskets and would be tied at 8. Guelph would take the first significant lead of the game at 14-9, shutting out McMaster on the offensive. Four points from rookie Joe Rocca would get the Marauders within one thanks to a lay-up and some foul shots to follow and a jumper from Taylor Black would tie it up at 15. The first would end with the home team up by one at 21-20. 

In the second, back-to-back lay-ups from McMaster would give them the slight three points lead thanks to Satar Wahidi and Adam Presutti at 27-24. That lead wouldn't last for long though as Guelph's 4-0 run would give them the lead back.

Aggressive play on offense from the Marauders would keep the game close, until the Gryphons went up by five points at 36-31, forcing McMaster to call a timeout with 3:30 to go. Poor rebounding from the Marauders would extend Guelph's lead to 8 and the half would end 43-35 in favour of the Gryphons. 

The first double digit lead of the game occurred near the beginning of the third with the Gryphons up 47-37. It would be later in the quarter that the Marauders would come alive with baskets from Victor Raso and Nathan Pelech. It would turn into a 8-0 run for McMaster as foul shots got the Marauders within three. The end of the quarter would have the Marauders down by just two points at 53-51 with ten minutes to go in the game.

In the fourth, it would be Presutti that would tie it at 53 and another basket from the rookie would put McMaster up by two. Soon after, the Marauders would see their lead grow even larger at 60-54. McMaster would be able to maintain that lead throughout the quarter, but not without the Gryphons at their heels. Guelph tied that score up at 63, but the Marauders would keep pushing, allowing a number of players to contribute in the last three minutes of the game. McMaster would go on to win it 82-74. 

McMaster's Big Mac Player of the Game was rookie Adam Presutti for his game-high 27 points. Fellow rookie Joe Rocca recorded the double-double with 11 rebounds and 10 points and Taylor Black added another 16 for the Marauders. 

For the Gryphons, Kareem Malcolm was named Big Mac Player of the Game for his game-high 27 points. Also hitting double-digit numbers for Guelph was Dan McCarthy with 15 points and Michel Clark with 11. Adam Bering recorded nine points and 12 rebounds. 

The Marauders take on the Waterloo Warriors on the road on Saturday afternoon.