Box Score HAMILTON, ON - It was intense right down to the end, with it all coming down to the final 30 seconds resulting in the Marauders up by 1 at the final buzzer.
It was a high energy game from the jump, with these two equally matched teams facing off again, for the second time this week.
McMaster opened the scoring on their first play, but the Mustangs responded immediately, with Jerric Palma sinking the first of many 3-pointers on the next play.
There was incredible effort from the get-go, with skilled ball movement from the entire Mustangs team, and consistently strong half court defence. This resulted in Western being able to end the first quarter with a steady lead, at 23-16.
Western maintained an excellent offensive strategy, which transitioned seamlessly into defence on the return. Mac was able to hold a strong defence in the second, forcing the Mustangs to shoot mainly outside the key, scoring only 6 of their 45 in the paint.
Jerric Palma was consistently sinking threes, which resulted in the Marauders switching their defence to double team him and shut him down. This opened a door for the Mustangs who were able to effectively find the open man resulting in multiple successful baskets.
The third quarter was a much closer match, with neither team backing off. Unfortunately McMaster went on an unanswered 13-0 scoring run, which managed to pull the Marauders ahead and remain up for the rest of the quarter.
There was an intense back and forth in the final quarter of the game. Neither team gave the other any room, and at this point it was anyone's game. A three-point shot from Omar Shiddo helped bring the Mustangs back up to a tie after being down for some time.
There was a string of incredible plays from Western, which brought them up by 4 with only 2 minutes left.
Unfortunately, there were some unlucky shots and fouls called. This resulted in the Marauders being able to score one final time, bringing them up by 1 with less than 4 seconds on the clock and a final score of 78-77.
The Mustangs will play their next game this Wednesday, February 14, against Windsor, in Windsor at 8pm. Fans can watch live at OUA.tv.
