Tonight the McMaster Men's Basketball team faced off against the Guelph Gryphons. The Marauders, who hold a three way tie for second in OUA Central, wanted the win to secure the ranking, however fell short in the matchup.

Three Marauders posted double digit points, Mike Demagus held 24, AY Osunde with 16, and Nathan Charles hosting a double-double with 17 points and 12 rebounds.

Coming to the court the Marauders lineup had some changes due to injuries, forcing the squad to adapt. Low shooting percentages and a slow first quarter brought a hiccup for the home team. The 10 minutes saw six lead changes, ending in favour of Guelph.

In the second, the Marauders made up some ground outscoring the Gryphons 21-19, which helped close the gap to 36-41. Boosting their field goal percentage to 50%, up by 16.7 from the previous quarter, the Marauders broke Guelph's down by 8.8% to match the 50%.

Coming out of the locker room, the home team proved how much they wanted it and up'ed the number of shots taken, to outdo any of the quarters yet. While they struggled to land, the hustle was there. By the end of the third, Guelph had recorded 24 slighting beating McMaster's 22, bringing the game to 65-58 for Guelph.

Cutting to the fourth, down by 7, the Marauders were looking for some buckets, but Guelph was outplaying them. After a McMaster time out, Nathan Charles landed two free throws followed by a three from Tyler Garcia. The set of buckets brought the squad back to a 10 point deficit.

With 2.5 minutes left, Demagus made a huge tending block, which was picked up by Daniel Graham and handed off to Charles for a crucial layup to keep their team in it. When the clock read under a minute, the squad was dialed in. Charles swiped a key ball and dunked it, bringing the point chase to single digits once again. Demagus immediately followed suit with a heavy steal, layup and one, as foul made a three point play.

Inbounding down by 6, with 42.5 seconds left the Marauders drew up some successful plays, but they were equally responded by the Gryphons, who ultimately took the game 90-84.

Despite not catching the win, the Marauders played hard until the last few seconds. 

What's Next?

The Marauders will look to come back from the loss in their next game against the York Lions on Saturday January 20th.