The McMaster men's basketball team knew it was facing a tough challenge on Sunday afternoon, taking on the defending AUS champion Dahousie Tigers, and the Marauders were up to the task winning a 76-70 decision.  

Dalhousie was playing the third of a three-game tour through southern Ontario and was looking for a sweep before heading back to Nova Scotia, while the Marauders were trying to remain undefeated so far in the 2016-17 season. 

McMaster went back to the long ball to start the contest and made four three-pointers in the opening quarter, two each from Connor Gilmore and Elliot Ormond.  After 10 minutes McMaster was in front 20-14.

The second quarter saw the Tigers apply some pressure and the tactic seemed to work as McMaster could not score for over three minutes to start the period, while Dalhousie used a 13-3 run to take a 27-23 lead.   At that point Marauder David McCulloch knocked down a trey to close within one and swing the momentum.  McMaster finished the quarter on a 12-2 run to take a 38-29 lead into intermission.

The third quarter saw the teams play fairly even, as Dalhousie looked to trim the deficit but was stymied by a McMaster squad that kept the advantage close to double digits. Heading into the final quarter, the Marauder lead had grown to 57-45.

A strong start to the fourth quarter saw the Marauders go up 61-45, which was the biggest lead of the game. The Tigers refused to quit though and called a timeout with 4:33 left in the game, having closed the gap to 10 points at 63-53.  The rally continued for Dalhousie, getting to within six at 63-57 as the Marauders continued to have trouble handling the Dal pressure.  McMaster finally broke the press and found Matt Quiring for consecutive hoops to bump the lead back up to 10 at 67-57, with under three minutes to go.

The Tigers kept pressing but some key free throws by McMaster kept the visitors at bay, and time ran out on Dalhousie.

For the second straight game McMaster was led by Rohan Boney, who scored 17 points. Gilmore with 16, Ormond with a career-high 15, and McCulloch with 12 also broke the double-figure barrier.   Top shooter for Dalhousie was Kashrell Lawrence with a game-high 20.  McMaster outshot the Tigers for the game 49% to 43% from the floor, and won the battle of the boards by 33-19.

Next home action for the Marauders is the annual game versus Mohawk College for local bragging rights, on Wednesday, October 12th at 7 p.m. in McMaster's Burridge Gymnasium.