Box Score The McMaster men's basketball team needed a win to have any chance at hosting an OUA playoff game, but fell short against the Western Mustangs losing 95-89 in the final league game on Saturday afternoon in London.
 
The Mustangs opened on a 7-0 run in the first minute of the game to give them an early lead.  The early deficit made things tough on the Marauders, and they trailed 32-20 going into the second.
 
Western used another quick 6-0 run to start the second quarter and take an 18-point lead.  But Mac flipped the switch and began to chip away at the deficit. The Marauders went on a 12-2 run midway through the quarter to cut the Western advantage to just five points at intermission.
 
The Marauders were able to keep the game close in the third quarter, but with six minutes remaining, leading scorer Connor Gilmore was given a technical foul that saw him foul out of the game and the momentum began to swing back in Western's favour.  The Mustangs finished the quarter on an 11-2 run to take a 72-60 lead going into the final quarter.
 
Again Western started the quarter strong, increasing the lead to 18 in the first minute of the fourth.  Trailing by 17 with three minutes remaining, things looked grim but the Marauders went on a 19-4 run, which included five triples to cut the lead to just two at 91-89 with 40 seconds remaining. However, untimely fouls put Western on the free-throw line and the Marauders came up short in the six-point loss.
 
Rohan Boney finished with a double-double, scoring 21 points and coming away with 10 boards. Lazar Kojovic scored 19 points, with four three-pointers and David McCulloch added 11.
 
Despite being already eliminated from the playoffs, the Mustangs came to play and shot a solid 52% from the floor in the win, compared to 43% for McMaster.
 
The Marauders finish OUA play with a record of 8 and 11, and will limp into the playoffs having lost 5 of their last 6 games, and looking to recapture some of the form they showed early in the season.
 
McMaster will open the OUA Wilson Cup Playoffs, on the road in Windsor, on Wednesday, Feb. 22.
 
Check marauders.ca for information on upcoming playoff action.
 
By Jonah Tuck