The York University Lions men's basketball team nearly upset the No. 7 nationally ranked McMaster Marauders at home on Saturday night, ultimately falling 83-82 at the Tait McKenzie Centre.
The first quarter was off to a fast start with the Lions leading the charge.
Prince Kamunga and
Joshua Kagande had fantastic steals ending with the Lions leading 14-10. The second quarter went more McMaster's way, however, as a three by Tommy Johnson made it a 22-18 game for the Marauders. Kamunga answered back with a three-pointer, which cut the deficit to one point. Damiann Prehay scored two free throws to solidify McMaster's lead and the Lions were on the offence and came back to end the first half down by just one point, at 36-35, with a dunk from Kamunga.
The second half started with tensions high. The Lions aimed to keep their momentum from the first half going but fell short as the Marauders came out and played harder to enhance their lead. Midway through the frame it was the Lions who pulled ahead thanks to a layup from Aurora, Ont., native
Tyler Pryce and a jump shot from
Dusan Prelo. The Lions continued to lead the game, outscoring the Marauders 29-21 in the third for an overall lead of 64-57.
In the final quarter, the game was looking bright for the Lions as they kept pace against the nationally-ranked team. They continued to lead and widened their lead with free throws from
MJ Forbes, but the Marauders began chipping away at the score and with 90 seconds remaining, the Lions led by just three.
The Marauders gained their second wind with a basket and a foul for Kwasi Adu-Poku, making it a tie game followed by Henry Jordan to break the tie. The Lions continued to attack offence, but in the dying seconds and in a last-ditch effort to win,
Alex Thielen forced a turnover and passed the ball to Kagande, who couldn't sink the game-tying basket.
Kamunga led the team in scoring with 25 points and had his second straight big performance, adding 15 rebounds for the double-double. Pryce finished with 12 points and
DeAndrae Pierre scored 11 points.
After a weekend off, the Lions play their next game on Saturday, Jan. 25 at home against the Nipissing Lakers at 1pm.
