Four different Marauders scored 15 or more points on Saturday night as they defeated the Nipissing Lakers on the road.
Of the 90 points McMaster put on the scoreboard, five of the men in maroon scored 75 of them, with Damiann Prehay leading the way with 17 after coming off the bench to play 23 minutes.
The Marauders jumped out to the early lead in the opening quarter with, Jordan Henry scoring four of the first nine points for the visitors. However, Nipissing started to find its range, and took the lead with 5:06 left in the quarter on a Quintin Ashitei shot from behind the arc.
Tristan Lindo later tie it up with a three ball of his own, which was followed moments later by a Brandon Bernard three to take a 15-12 lead. From there, the Marauders went on an 11-4 run to close out the quarter for a 26-16 lead.
Early in the second quarter, the Lakers closed the gap to just five points, but Mac responded by scoring the next six points to extend its lead to 11 points after a free throw by Prehay and Sefa Otchere knocked down five straight points on a jumper and a three
By the time the horn sounded to end the first half, the Marauders led 48-38.
As the third quarter started, the teams were content to trade buckets, with neither going on a run. After Josh Nardini gave the Marauders a 14-point lead at the halfway mark of the quarter, Nipissing went on a 10-2 run to get within six points. But at the end of the quarter, Mac had rebuilt a nine-point lead.
While McMaster ultimately came away with the win in the fourth quarter, Nipissing swung the balance of play to make things interesting in the late stages.
As the teams were closing in on the 3:30 mark of the quarter, Nipissing tied the game at 79. The teams swapped the lead from there, but with 14 seconds remaining, Henry connected with a shot from the charity stripe for a three-point lead, and then, seconds later, Otchere hit one of two shots from the free throw line to put the game away.
Prehay led the scoring for the Marauders on the night, but three others were right behind him, with Connor Gilmore posting 16 points and Lindo and Henry scoring 15 each. Otchere also hit the double-digit point mark with 12.
On the boards, Kwasi Adu-Poku had a team-high 12 rebounds, eight of them coming offensively.
With the victory, the Marauders moved to 6-2 on the season and sit in second place in the OUA Central division.
The men will return to action on Friday, November 29 at the Burridge Gym when they host the Brock Badgers who sit two points back of the Marauders in the standings. Tipoff for the big matchup is scheduled for 8:00 PM.
