It was a struggle at times but the Marauder men's basketball team  used a strong finish to defeat Humber College 76-66 in the opening game of the Ryerson National Invitational Tournament.

Perhaps showing the effects of the long layoff due to exams and the holidays, McMaster allowed Humber to jump out to an early 5-0 lead to start the game.  Both teams  took some time to find their legs and the first quarter saw both teams with more turnovers than field goals.  After the first 10 minutes, Humber still had a 15-14 lead.

McMaster picked up the pace in the second quarter and tried to use its size advantage against the smaller Hawks, going inside to Taylor Black and Nathan McCarthy.  Marauder Joe Rocca came off the bench and attacked the basket aggressively, while getting to the free throw line.   The Mac lead grew to as many as 10 points, but Humber closed the gap to 33-26 at intermission. Both teams shot only 31% from the floor in the first half.

The third quarter resembled the start of the game as Humber scored the first seven points to tie the game at 33.  McMaster then went on a 10-0 run to regain control and forcing Humber to call a time-out. The Hawks came out and chipped away at the Marauder lead and at the end of three quarters, McMaster held a slight 45-42 advantage.

The Marauders started the fourth quarter with a made three-pointer by Aaron Redpath to build a slight cushion, but Humber took advantage of some sloppy play and got within a point at 54-53 with 5:39 left in the game.   But once again Joe Rocca sparked a McMaster run with some good defense and timely shooting and the Marauder lead went back to 10 points.  Humber got to within seven but no closer and McMaster closed out the win.

The top shooter for McMaster was Rocca who dropped 22 off the bench, followed by Aaron Redpath with 16, while Taylor Black and Nathan McCarthy both added 12. 

The Marauders won the battle of the boards 45-33, but committed 21 turnovers compared to 19 for Humber.

Full box score is HERE

McMaster now plays the winner of the game between UPEI and McGill on Saturday, December 29 at 6 pm at Ryerson's Mattamy Centre.