Given the start and the playing time to prove himself, Sefa Otchere made the most of it Saturday to lead McMaster to victory.
The rookie guard enjoyed by far the most productive night of his young Marauders career, posting 26 points and hitting two thirds of his shots in 30 minutes of playing time, as McMaster broke a three-game losing streak with an 89-77 win over Toronto.
Otchere was the Marauders second-leading scorer on the night, as veteran teammate David McCulloch bounced back from a difficult game against Ryerson the night before to post 31 points.
Hitting 11 of 15 shots from the floor, McCulloch was five of eight from three-point range and achieved his highest point total of the season.
With the win, the Marauders improved to 4-3 on the season and dropped the Blues to 3-4.
Saturday marked a return to form for the entire McMaster group, which shot 53 per cent from the floor and 45 per cent from three-point range.
Starting brightly out of the gate in the opening quarter, the Marauders rode an 11-3 run midway through first to an 18-7 lead, and forced the Blues to scramble to a timeout after a three from Connor Gilmore.
Toronto began to stabilize after the break, but McMaster remained hot from the floor and hit 11 of 18 shots in the quarter to lead by 10 points through the first.
Clawing back into contention as the second quarter progressed, the Blues were within three points after an offensive board and put back from Nikola Paradina at the 4:32 mark.
Paradina provided the crucial shot two minutes later to draw the Blues level at 40, and it was only through a pair of final free throws from Gilmore that the Marauders limped into the half with a two-point lead.
But McMaster responded strongly to that adversity to open the third, ripping off an 8-2 run to restore a more comfortable lead at 50-44, capped by a three-point play from McCulloch.
His 12 points in the quarter, and Otchere's seven, helped the Marauders build a nine-point advantage at its end despite the Blues best efforts.
Able to maintain their hot shooting in the fourth, McMaster saw out the win with Otchere hitting four of five attempts from the floor to help the Marauders outscore the Blues 25-22 in the quarter.
NEXT UP: McMaster hits the road for a visit to the nation's capital, as the Marauders visit the Ottawa Gee-Gees on Friday, November 23 before heading across town to battle the #1-ranked Carleton Ravens the next night. Both games will tip off at 8:00 p.m. and be available to stream live on OUA.tv.
