TORONTO – The No. 3 ranked Ryerson Rams men's basketball team won the battle of nationally ranked squads on Saturday afternoon, coming out with a 98-78 victory over No. 4 McMaster at the Mattamy Athletic Centre.
BOXSCORE
Aaron Best (Scarborough, Ont.) was lights out for the Rams on Saturday, scoring 30 points on 11-of-13 from the floor including 6-of-7 from three-point territory. All five Ryerson starters reached double digits and Jahmal Jones (Mississauga, Ont.) had a double-double with 16 points and ten assists.
Both teams came out of the gates with offence on their mind and combined for 54 first quarter points, heading to the second frame knotted at 27-27.
As to be expected, neither team was able to keep up their torrid pace in the second quarter and the teams settled into their defensive game plans. McMaster opened up a seven point edge at 40-33 with 4:10 to play in the half but Ryerson went on a 7-0 run to even the game back up. An Aaron Redpath three pointer gave McMaster a slight 43-40 lead heading into halftime.
Ryerson found their scoring stroke again in the third quarter, starting the frame 7-of-8 from the floor and with 6:24 remaining, Ryerson took a 53-52 lead and never relinquished that lead. The Rams led by as many as seven in the quarter and headed into the final frame with a 66-61 advantage.
The Rams poured it on in the fourth, scoring 32 points in the final ten minutes to put the game out of reach and take it by a 98-78 scoreline.
“When you play quality (opponents) you're going to be tested so for us…we actually wanted the opportunity to test ourselves against a really, really good team. It was a good win and a good gauge of where we're at and where we need to go,” said head coach Roy Rana following the game.
Forward Kadeem Green (Richmond Hill, Ont.) finished with 17 points and six rebounds and spoke after the game about the team's ability to shut down the McMaster offence after the first quarter.
“I thought McMaster was hitting some tough shots (early) – we were there defensively and contesting shots but they came out hard and I knew it wasn't going to last the whole game. I think we're one of the best defensive teams in the country and I didn't think they would be able to knock down those tough shots on a consistent basis. We just had to stay confident in the defence and trust it.”
Redpath finished with a team-high 20 points in the loss for McMaster while Joe Rocca had 17 and Adam Presutti finished with 14 points.
The Rams improve to 8-2 on the season while the loss drops McMaster's record to 7-3. Ryerson is back in action on Wednesday, January 10 when they host the York Lions at 8:00 p.m.