A lopsided opening half Saturday seemed destined to make the second one academic at Burridge Gym, before a spirited McMaster comeback effort in the third quarter rejuvenated the game, and the Hamiltonian crowd.

But that hope proved to be short-lived, as the Marauders succumbed to the Laurier Golden Hawks in the fourth quarter and ultimately dropped an 87-73 decision to suffer their first loss of the calendar year.

With the result, McMaster falls to 6-8 on the season and into a tie for fourth in the OUA West divisional standings.

On a flat offensive night for the home side, it was Damiann Prehay -- playing in just his third game as a Marauer -- that led McMaster with 17 points in the loss and narrowly missed a double double by adding eight rebounds.

Veteran guard David McCulloch chipped in 15 points, while Connor Gilmore had 12 and Sefa Otchere 10 to round out Mac's scoring leaders.

Watching as their opponents went 50 per cent from the floor in the opening quarter, the Marauders trailed by nine after conceding 26 points in the frame, and were firmly on the back foot after 10 minutes.

That trend continued in the second, where Laurier built a lead of as much as 23 and took a commanding 48-32 lead into the halftime break, with star Ali Sow already boasting 18 points on the night.

Flipping the script emphatically in the third quarter, the Marauders pulled back 11 points of their deficit over the course of the 10 minute stretch, with Prehay pouring in nine to lead the way as his team's shooting percentage swelled to 44.

That momentum died as the teams moved into the fourth quarter, however, with McMaster reverting to the shooting struggles of earlier and hitting just 31 per cent in the quarter while scoring just 16 points as a group.

On the other side, Sow had nine to key the Golden Hawks, who dropped 25 to coast to victory.

NEXT UP: McMaster welcomes the Lakehead Thunderwolves to Burridge Gym for a two-night series, with the first game set to tip off Friday, January 18 at 8:00 p.m. That game can be seen live on OUA.tv.