HAMILTON, Ont. – Despite a game-high 34 points from
Greg Morrow the Mustangs weren't able to come away with the win as they fell to the CIS No. 6 McMaster Marauders 77-61 on Saturday afternoon at the Burridge Gymnasium.
Western's record moves to 4-7 with the loss, keeping them third in the OUA West and two points behind Windsor and Laurier. McMaster's record moves to 9-2, keeping them first in the OUA Central.
Morrow's 34 points represents a season-high for the forward, eclipsing the 32 points he scored back on November 7th against Laurier.
Peter Scholtes was next up on the Mustangs scoresheet with 16 points, 11 of which came in the third quarter. Morrow not only led the team in scoring but also in rebounds with 14, while Scholtes,
Tom Filgiano, and
Alex Coote all grabbed five each.
Three Marauders hit double digits in their victory, with Leon Alexander leading the way with 21 points, followed by Trevor McNeil with 16 and Connor Gilmore with 12. Alexander and Rohan Boney led the Marauder defence with eight rebounds apiece. Overall the Marauders outshot the Mustangs on Saturday, hitting 44.1% of their field goals compared to a 32.9% success rate for Western.
Morrow's shooting success made an early appearance for the Mustangs, where he managed to score all 12 purple and white points in the first frame. Yet the Marauders drove to keep themselves on top early, with McNeil recording seven consecutive Marauder points to distance themselves from the Mustangs. The first ten minutes ended in McMaster favour at 20-12.
McMaster's defence continued to keep the Mustangs trailing in the second quarter, limiting the Mustangs to only a 26.7% field goal success rate in the frame. In comparison, the Marauders found a great deal of success from the floor connecting on 53.3% of their shots to outscore the Mustangs 19-11 and take a 39-23.
Scholtes started off the second half strong, recording the Mustangs first 11 points of the third quarter. The increased pressure from Scholtes was answered by a number of Marauder baskets, including seven points from Alexander. Despite outscoring the Marauders 17-15, the Mustangs ended the third quarter trailing 54-40.
The final frame saw back and forth action for the majority of play, with every Mustang basket being mirrored by one from the Marauders. Morrow continued to dominate scoring 14 of Western's 21 points, but deficit proved to be too much to overcome with McMaster closing out the game with a 77-61 victory.
The Mustangs start next week in Waterloo to take on the Warriors on Wednesday, January 27. Tip-off is at 8 p.m. and can be watched live on OUA.tv.
