Hamilton, ON- As the McMaster Marauders men’s basketball team headed into 2024, they were back somewhere familiar.
The Burridge Gym for one. Their lineup for another. The Marauders have played with a smaller rotation throughout the first half of the season. They did so as they finished with a 6-4 record, with wins over the Windsor Lancers, Western Mustangs, Brock Badgers and Carleton Ravens.
They did so with forwards Nathan Charles and Riaz Saliu filling in down low. They did so with Ares Culley-Bremner out and Brendan Amoyaw making his way back from an injury.
Then, in late December, they took a trip down to Michigan to face the Saginaw Valley State Cardinals – where they lost 91-75. They lost Amoyaw to injury again as well. That left them with nobody over 6’5’.
Heading into their 2024 opening game against the York Lions on Jan. 6, the Marauders knew what they needed to do to make up for the height: rebound.
That meant everyone – from the forwards to the guards. They out-rebounded the Lions 46-33 – notably higher than their 35.8 rebounds per game average – as they won 93-77.
McMaster head coach Patrick Tatham has seen his team’s progression in rebounding. It’s something he’s talked to them about throughout the season.
He’s seen them lock in on what needs to be done for rebounding and to win games, especially being undersized. They know the attention to detail that comes with finding a body and going after the ball. “It’s at an all-time high right now,” Tatham said.
Forward Moody Qasim knew that as well. He took it to heart, grabbing a season-best 15 rebounds, including 13 defensive boards. “I took it on myself to try to go for every single defensive rebound,” Qasim said. “Whether I got it or not, just to make an effort.”
When he goes in for a rebound, he makes sure he’s not rushing it. He’ll wait for the holes and angles to attack for a board. When they do, he feels something else though…
Just going for it. That’s what Qasim calls it. “Having that effort and that heart to go up and rip it,” he noted. “Every rebound is whoever has more effort, more aggressiveness and more urgency for the ball.”
Qasim did so time and time again versus the Lions. He did so in crucial moments as McMaster fended off a second-half York push to prevail.
Tatham knew Qasim was a prolific scorer when he came into McMaster this season from Sheridan College. He did not see the rebounding part of his game through. “I will take it 100 per cent,” he added.
Against York, while Qasim didn’t score as much as usual, he made his mark on the glass.
Qasim’s teammates provided the scoring punch. Fifth-year senior and leading scorer Mike Demagus notched 27 points. Charles and Mohawk College transfer Daniel Graham added 17 each.
Demagus felt the team’s sense of urgency as they made their fourth quarter run. They brought the energy with their rebounding, ball movement and shot making.
One of those shot makers was Graham, known as a proficient three-point shooter. He’s shooting 31.6 per cent on the season and made three-for-five against York.
Tatham sees him finding his groove in his first season of university basketball. He’s in a different role than he was at Mohawk and he’s understanding it better and better. “We depend on his spark off the bench,” Tatham said. “Today he did a very good job at it.”
Demagus sees his sacrifice – going from being “the guy” at Mohawk to fitting into the McMaster team culture – as he’s playing way better. He’s averaging 7.4 points.
Graham, Qasim and others provide something else as well: secondary scoring. It’s been a theme throughout the season. While Demagus is often their leading scorer, the X-factor in games will be around who else fills the bucket.
It can be different people every game as well. Qasim, Graham and Osunde have shown they can fill that role. Guards Elijah Bethune, Tyrelle Miller and Tyler Garcia can all fill that point guard facilitator role as well, Tatham pointed out. Several people have filled the rebounding role.
“I’m happy to see that guys trust when things aren’t going their way, there’s a second level that we can get to with other guys helping out with scoring,” Tatham said.
The Marauders finished off 2023 strong but 2024 presents new challenges. McMaster will be hitting the road after a stretch of seven of their last eight regular season games at home.
Seven of their next eight games will be away from the Burridge Gym – starting with a trip to face the number three nationally ranked Queen’s Gaels on Jan. 12.
Tatham saw them play hard against York and set the tone defensively – especially in the first quarter. He saw them rebound as well as they have all season. The question he wonders is whether they can carry that into their road stretch. “We’ll wait and see,” he noted.
Demagus said while playing on the road is very different, they still have the same game plan. “Play hard, get rebounds, do what you have to do,” he noted. The game plan stays the same regardless of opponent or location.
There is something they can carry into their coming games. Demagus can reflect on how far they’ve come even this season.
After a start of the season that was a little bit rocky – a 2-6 preseason record – they’ve all locked in and committed to the game plan and the ultimate goal: make it to nationals and win an OUA and national title as well.
As they’ve racked up victories, they’ve become closer as a group. That meant more time bonding, according to Qasim. During the break, he found there was more time to get shots up and talk to his teammates. They would show up 2-3 hours a day to shoot and practice.
Demagus noticed how everyone was locked in and on the same page coming off the winter break. He can foresee how far they can still go to reach those goals as well.
“We just have way more to give than we’ve shown,” he said. “Kind of like in an underdog sense because we’re not the biggest but we still have something to prove.”
Featured Image: Kevin Lassel/McMaster Athletics