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McMaster (9-7) 75 at Waterloo (6-11) 56 The Marauders struggled for a good part of the game but broke it open with about 9 minutes to play, propelled by a big 3 by 6'4" John Obrovac, to garner a win on the road in Waterloo. Mac held just a 5 point lead after star guard Martin Ajayi went to the bench with his fourth foul on a controversial blocking call with 9:17 to play but, on the very next possession, Obrovac (pictured), a fifth-year senior, knocked down a long 3 that started a game-deciding 17-4 that gave the Marauders their largest lead at 69-51 with under 5 minutes left. The Marauders shuffled players in and out in the first half, playing all 12 guys and even deployed a zone for a good part of the game but could only grab a 35-31 halftime lead. Warriors second-year combo guard David Burnett was a one-man band for Waterloo in the first half with 13 points but was held scoreless in the second half until hitting a pair of free throws with 3 minutes left after a technical to Mac coach Joe Raso. Ajayi led Mac with 19 points, 3 below his league-leading average and 6'8" Adam Steiner continued his strong play at both ends with an 18-point/14-rebound double-double. Toms Lokmanis snarred 12 rebounds for Mac which outrebounded the Warriors 52-34. With Guelph's victory tonight against Windsor, the Warriors fall deeper into 7th place, making Waterloo's game, Saturday at home against the Gryphs, a virtual must-win. The Marauders welcome Western at home on Saturday as part of their annual Marauder Day celebrations.

#4 Windsor (12-4) 69 at Guelph (7-9) 81 Coming back from a ten point first half deficit, the Gryphs had what could be a turnaround game in defeating the Lancers, which for the second time this month lost decisively against a strong opponent on the road before about 1,000 fans in Guelph. 6'4" Nick Pankerichan (pictured) had maybe his best game as a Gryph, scoring 21 points including 3-6 from 3 while playing all 40 minutes and unheralded 6'7" forward Duncan Milne was a force at both ends, scoring 15 points and adding 11 rebounds but also holding down Windsor's 6'8" forward Greg Surmacz (13 points/9 rebounds), even blocking a couple of his shots. Milne put an exclamation mark on the game with a dunk down the stretch during Guelph's final run which turned a tight game with about 10 minutes remaining into a comfortable win. Guelph also got a tremendous effort from second-year guard Charles Agyemang (Toronto Henry Carr), who played a career-high 32 minutes and did a great job defending while filling in minutes for injured Jay Mott. The Lancers, led by star guard Ryan Steer (25 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists), who had 15 first-half points, looked like they might blow the Gryphs out of their own gym, taking leads as large as 10 in the first half however Guelph's Borko Popic (16 points) knocked down a big 3 at the buzzer, culminating a mini 6-0 run to bring the Gryphs back to within 4 by halftime. The Gryphs then turned up their "d" which held the Lancers to 38.1% shooting for the game and rode the hot shooting of Pankerichan and Popic and the strong inside play of Milne to their most important win of the season. On Saturday, Guelph travels to Waterloo, who defeated them earlier this month.

Western (9-7) 90 at Laurier (7-9) 80 OVERTIME 6'2" third-year guard Matt Curtis converted a layup with 0.9 seconds remaining in regulation to tie the game and then took over the game in the overtime as the Mustangs kept pace with Mac in advance of their showdown this coming Saturday in Hamilton. Western outscored the hometown Hawks 16-6 in the overtime period to claim the road win after tying the game on the last possession of regulation when it appeared that the Laurier minor officials neglected to start the game clock promptly. Brad Smith led Western with 20 while Curtis had 15 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists and 5 steals in 40 minutes. Rookie Jordan Smith had a big 3 in transition in overtime off a feed from Curtis as Curtis had a hand in virtually all Western's overtime points. Hawks second-year guard Jesse Macdonald had a career-high 27 points including 5-6 3's to lead Laurier which got 13 points from Matt Walker on only 3-14 shooting. 6'7" center Trevor Csima was effective for Laurier with 15 points and 15 rebounds and freshman Andrew Pennycook swatted another 5 shots but Western prevailed by scoring in and around the paint. Laurier now travels to Windsor and Western heads to Mac on Saturday.

OUA WEST STANDINGS after tonight's games
Windsor 12-4
Brock 9-6
McMaster 9-7
Western 9-7
Laurier 7-9
Guelph 7-9
Waterloo 6-11
Lakehead 1-15

Friday's Game: Brock at Lakehead 8:30 PM Eastern
Saturday's Games: Laurier at Windsor 1 PM; Western at McMaster 2 PM; Guelph at Waterloo 3 PM.