HAMILTON, Ont. — On Saturday, the McMaster Marauders (1-9) faced the Queen's Gaels (8-1) at home. 

The Marauders would fall just short, losing 70-69. 

The Gaels got out to an early lead but the Marauders closed the gap thanks to a dunk from Riaz Saliu (Oshawa, Ont.). Later, Elijah Bethune (Toronto, Ont.) put the Marauders ahead with a three. McMaster would end the first quarter behind 21-14. 

Anthony Warzeszcz (Mississauga, Ont.) got the Marauders started in the second quarter with a three. The threes kept coming for the Marauders with Bethune hitting back to back threes later in the second along with Warzeszcz again sinking a three. The half would end with the Marauders still behind 42-33.

Brendan Amoyaw (Winnipeg, Man.) started the second half on a hot streak, scoring three straight points for McMaster, finishing off with a dunk. Bethune got hot on defense as well with a diving steal which set up a lay up for Moody Qasim (Mississauga, Ont.) to cut Queen's lead to two.  The score would continue to stay close throughout the quarter and Bethune would finish the quarter with a buzzer beater to tie it at 57. 

 The fourth quarter stayed close as well. Warzeszcz weaved his way into the paint for a layup which put McMaster up by one. Later, a three by Tre Edwards (Hamilton, Ont.)  put the Marauders within one with 29 seconds left on the clock. The game would end that way, with the Marauders losing 70-69.

Next up: As the home game vs the Algoma Thunderbirds is postponed, the Marauders will be back in action in the new year when they head to Guelph to face the Gryphons on January 8th.