Box Score On a night when the team's two leading scorers struggled most of the game, McMaster showed how good they are as a team, defeating the Guelph Gryphons 73-72 on a last-second free throw by David McCulloch.
 
Both teams came out strong on the defensive end of the court. Guelph played smothering interior defence in an attempt to keep McMaster out of the paint, and by the end of the first  quarter McMaster was held to just 13 points and trailed by three 16-13.
 
The strong defence continued in the second quarter for both teams. Mac did a great job of defending the perimeter, holding the Gryphons to just one three-pointer in the half.  Marauders Connor Gilmore and Rohan Boney combined for just six first-half points on 1-12 from the field, but the Marauders were able to push forward and go into the break up 29-28 after David McCulloch nailed a buzzer-beater.
 
Mac began to find their scoring in the second half. A balanced offensive attack allowed the Marauders to pull away, outscoring Guelph by eight in the quarter to take a 53-44 lead going into the fourth.
 
Guelph wasn't willing to give up though and a strong effort allowed them to tie the game at 56-56 with just under six minutes left in the game. Connor Gilmore was put back into the game and found his stride, taking over after a slow start by scoring 10 in the quarter.
 
McMaster couldn't seem to pull away as back-to-back threes by Guelph tied the game again at 70 with under a minute left. Gilmore put the Marauders up by two after a put-back on a missed shot by Boney, but Daniel Dooley responded, promptly knotting the game up again 72-72 with 17 seconds left in the game, forcing McMaster to call a timeout.
 
Mac was prepared to take the final shot as McCulloch ran the clock down. He missed his shot, but got his own rebound and put the ball back up right away and getting fouled.   He stepped to the charity stripe with the score tied at 72 with one second left.  McCulloch knocked down the first free-throw to seal the victory, and intentionally missed the second, allowing time to expire.
 
Gilmore led the team in scoring with 20 after going 6-8 from the field in the second half. David McCulloch scored 13 points, including two clutch plays at the end of each half that allowed McMaster to secure the win.
 
Mac will next host York on Friday, January 20 with an 8-pm tip, as part of Marauder Weekend.
 
The game can be streamed online on oua.tv and is on radio at CFMU 93.3FM.
 
By Jonah Tuck