Box Score The McMaster men's basketball team showed it can play with the national champs from Carleton, but beating them is another story, as the Ravens defeated the Marauders 74-65 at the Burridge Gym on Saturday night.

Carleton jumped out to any early lead behind eight quick points from Connor Wood, but the Marauders stayed within reach through the first quarter and ended the quarter with a late run to tie the score at 17-17 after 10 minutes.

The second quarter saw the Ravens go to the long ball to take the lead as four different players knocked down treys. But McMaster's Leon Alexander was having a strong game and behind his 17 first-half points, the Carleton lead was only 37-30 at halftime.

McMaster started the third quarter looking determined to enact another comeback and quickly tied the game at 37-37, prompting Carleton to take a timeout. The turning point in the game came midway through the third quarter, as the Raven's held a 44-43 lead but with McMaster heading to the charity stripe with a chance to take the lead.

Unfortunately, both free throws were missed, which was a problem for the Marauders all game. Carleton immediately ended the quarter on a 10-0 run to take a 54-43 lead into the final quarter and holding all the momentum.

The fourth quarter was not pretty basketball by either team, and the physical play resulted in tempers flaring on both sides. The game officials did not have one of their better efforts either, as both benches were assessed technical fouls due to their frustration with the questionable officiating. As they always do, the Ravens played hard to the last whistle and while the Marauders did not quit, they could only shave a basket off the deficit in the final quarter.

McMaster was led by Alexander with 18 points, while David McCulloch added 12. Carleton's Connor Wood scored a game-high 22. McMaster managed to edge Carleton in the rebound tally by 37-36, but the Marauders made only 43% of their free throws (9 of 21) for the game, which won't get it done if beating a national contender is the objective.

However, gaining the split against the two contenders from the nation's capital has to be considered a positive for McMaster as the team gets closer to the playoffs. The Marauders will next play the Nipissing Lakers on Friday, February 19th at the Burridge Gym, with tip-off set for 8-PM.