Box Score For five years, Justin Gunter terrorized foe after foe that rolled in to face his McMaster Marauders at Hamilton's Burridge Gym.
Same venue, different victim.
In Gunter's first trip back to the campus where he spent over a decade as a player and assistant coach, the second-year Warriors head coach led his team to a dominant 83-62 win over the Marauders on Saturday afternoon.
Rookie
Simon Petrov (Waterloo/Sir John A. Macdonald Secondary) led all scorers with 20 points, while fellow freshman
Nedim Hodzic (Waterloo/Sir John A. Macdonald Secondary) added 19 on the strength of shooting 11-14 from the free throw line. Veteran
Jon Ravenhorst (Sarnia/Sarnia Northern) also chipped in with a huge game on the boards, securing 14 rebounds to go along with 13 points. The win improves the Warriors' record to 4-12 on the season, as one of the youngest teams in the nation continues to learn on the job.
The Marauders dropped their third in a row, falling to 7-9 on the season. David McCulloch led the hosts in scoring with 13 points, but McMaster had problems scoring the basketball all day – they were held to a 32.9% field goal percentage, and the Marauders only hit 11 of 21 free throws.
Meanwhile, the Warriors shot a sizzling 49.2% from the field, including 6-of-16 from 3-point range. Waterloo fought their way to a five-point advantage at halftime, but the Warriors cranked it up in the second half and utterly dominated – the black and gold outscored McMaster 47-31 in the third and fourth quarters. The Warriors outrebounded Mac 43-32, and outscored the Marauders 32-26 in the paint.
The Warriors will now look to build on their most comprehensive effort of the season when they head out on the road to take on the Western Mustangs on Wednesday, February 8. Tip-off is scheduled for 8pm in London.
Justin Gunter was honoured prior to tip-off
