Box Score Playing their first game in over a month, the McMaster men's basketball team got just enough to beat a tough Laurier Golden Hawk squad 85-75 on Wednesday night in the Burridge Gym.

Laurier jumped out to a quick 10-4 lead, but before the opening quarter was done the Marauders had rallied to go in front 25-18 after 10 minutes.

The second quarter turned into the Will Coulthard show as the Laurier guard caught fire and made shots from all over the floor, including a rare 4-point play.   Behind Coulthard the Hawks were able to get to within four as McMaster still held a 41-37 margin at the half.

The third quarter saw McMaster gain a bit of cushion, but a Laurier run midway through the quarter brought the Hawks as close as 54-53.   Seeing their lead all but vanish, the men in maroon had a strong finish to the third, scoring the last eight points and the score was 62-53 heading to the final stanza.

McMaster got the lead up to 12 early in the fourth, but Laurier refused to fold and fought back to close within four points on a couple of occasions, but could get no closer.   Some late free throws by the Marauders boosted the margin of victory to the final 10 points.  

After giving up 18 points to Coulthard in the first half, McMaster did a much better job on him in the second half.  Primarily guarded by Trevon McNeil, Coulthard could only muster four points in the final 20 minutes.

McMaster had four players in double digits, led by Taylor Black with 18 and 12 boards.  Aaron Redpath and Joe Rocca each scored 16, while Rohan Boney chipped in 11.  Coulthard's 22 set the pace for Laurier.

The Marauders shot a respectable 44% from the floor, but the charity stripe was an adventure on this night as McMaster only made 27 of 44 attempts.  Laurier shot 36% for the game, but drained 8 of 23 from beyond the arc to help stay in striking range.   The battle of the boards was won by McMaster 44-41.

Now with a record of 7 and 2 the Marauders will start a stretch of three straight road games, with the first one at Ryerson on Saturday afternoon.  It's a clash of ranked teams as the Rams are currently slotted 3^rd in the CIS top-ten, one spot ahead of McMaster.