Box Score They weren't the first-team to get stung by the raucous atmosphere at Lakehead University, but the McMaster Marauders were the latest, as the Thunderwolves rallied in the final quarter to defeat McMaster 73-67 in an OUA Central division match-up.

McMaster played flat right from the start of the game and, with the exception of a few brief stretches, displayed very little of the form that had generated an eight-game win streak.

The Marauders held a 17-15 lead after the opening 10 minutes, with Lakehead showing they were ready to pull the upset against 4th-ranked McMaster. 

In the second quarter, the men in Maroon finally started to show some energy and the team opened up a 30-21 lead, leading to a Lakehead timeout.  The Wolves closed to within six at 34-28, but the Marauders finished the quarter strong and carried a 42-31 lead into the intermission, seemingly in control.

The momentum shifted in the third quarter, as Lakehead defended better and got into the bonus very early, trimming the Mac lead at the free-throw line.  The Wolves won the quarter by only a point, but it seemed like trailing by just 10 points heading to the fourth gave them a lift.

Wasting no time, Lakehead scored the first five points of the final stanza to cut the deficit in half. McMaster  struggled and it looked like the players let the pressure-packed atmosphere get to them as they missed several lay-ups , while the team's lead continued to dwindle. 

A trey by Lakehead's Henry Tan made the score 60-57, and the Wolves were within three points.  Marauder Connor Gilmore responded with a long three-pointer of his own to bump the lead back up to six, but Lakehead still had all the momentum.

Finally a three-point basket by Alex Robichaud gave Lakehead a 68-67 lead and the Thunderdome erupted.  McMaster had opportunities to re-take the lead, but could not make a play when it needed to down the stretch and the Wolves closed out the win at the free-throw line.   The Wolves completely dominated the final quarter by the score of 25 to 9.

The leading scorer on the night was Lakehead's Bacarius Dinkins, who abused the McMaster defense for 27 points and 15 rebounds in a monster performance.  Henry Tan added 14 for the Wolves.  McMaster got 15 each from Aaron Redpath and Leon Alexander, while Connor Gilmore had a double-double of 14 points and 10 boards.  

Neither team shot very well for the game as both McMaster (39.4%) and Lakehead (39.7%) failed to shoot over 40% from the floor.  

While the Marauders will look at several reasons for the loss, their performance at the charity stripe was key as McMaster made only 8 of 16 free-throws (50%) while Lakehead shot 18 0f 26 (69%). Those numbers will always prove costly in a close game.   Lakehead also controlled the glass, grabbing 44 rebounds to 34 for Mac, despite an overall size edge for the Marauders; another indicator of which team wanted the win more.

McMaster falls to 9 and 3 in OUA play and will try to salvage the series split on Saturday in game two, which is scheduled for an 8-pm tip.