The McMaster men's basketball team got its first OUA conference win on Friday, with an 85-66 decision over the visiting Lakehead Thunderwolves.   At times it seemed like a hockey game was going to break out, as a total of 59 fouls were called between the two teams.

The Marauders led this one from start to finish, opening up an 11-4 lead off the tip, although the Thunderwolves closed to within a basket at 17-15 after 10 minutes.  
The second and third quarters were identical 23-18 wins by McMaster, so that after three quarters the Maroon lead was 63-51.   The Mac lead got up to 21 in the fourth quarter, before both teams cleared the bench and closed out the final 19 point margin of victory for the Marauders.

In a game where the whistles prevented any kind of flow for either team, McMaster used its depth to maintain control.  Top shooter for McMaster was Taylor Black with 17, while grabbing 11 rebounds for the double-double.  Rohan Boney also had a double-double scoring 13 with 11 boards.  Adam Presutti chipped in 12 points.  On the Lakehead ledger Becarius Dinkins led with 14, while Mor Menashe dropped in 13.

The Marauders had a sizeable 52 to 24 advantage in rebounding for the game. Neither team shot very well with McMaster at 41% from the floor, and Lakehead making 31% of its attempts.  

Lakehead falls to 2 and 1 in the OUA Central, while McMaster improves to 1 and 2.  The two teams continue the weekend series Saturday night with tip-off set for 8 p.m. in the Burridge Gym.