GUELPH, ON – Sometimes you wish you'd rather have been blown out.
 
That was the sentiment surrounding the Guelph Gryphons on Saturday night after their OUA men's basketball game against the McMaster Marauders.
 
The Gryphs erased a 12-point deficit in the fourth quarter, but lost 73-72 when Mac's David McCulloch made one of two free throws with only one second left on the clock.
 
"We tied it twice," said head coach Chris O'Rourke, "and we felt like we were going to go to overtime. Unfortunately, it was taken out of the players' hands."
 
Mac had gone for the win on its last possession, starting with 18 seconds left. They couldn't score from the field, but Guelph's fourth-year guard Drew Walford was whistled for a foul on a loose ball rebound.
 
That sent McCulloch to the line while the Gryphs protested angrily to no avail. McCulloch made the first of his two shots, and that was the ball game.
 
"It's tough to swallow, for sure," O'Rourke said.
 
"But we showed a lot of heart and we grinded and we played defence the way we wanted today. We put ourselves in position (to win). It's a heartbreaking way to lose, with one second on the clock."
 
"It stings more than a regular loss," said fourth-year guard Daniel Dooley. "We fought back, and we feel like we could have won that game. We know we can play with them. It's tough to lose that way."
 
The Gryphs got off to a good start on Saturday against their nationally ranked opponent, leading 16-13 after one quarter. A buzzer beater at halftime allowed Mac to take a 29-28 lead into the dressing room.
 
The Marauders took control in the third quarter, and went up 55-43 early in the final frame. But the Gryphs made some big defensive stops and climbed back into the game, pulling into a 70-70 tie in the final minute on back-to-back three-pointers by Dooley and Taylor Boers.
 
"We were grinding on defence, and we have to be like that all the time," O'Rourke said. "That's what gave us a chance. And then we started to make some buckets, and we answered when we had to."
 
"Defence has been our Achilles heel this year. We've been very inconsistent with it, but today I thought we had the mindset defensively. We got a total team effort. Our bench played well, and everyone contributed in a positive way, especially on the defensive end."
 
Mac regained the advantage briefly after Boers' three, but Dooley tied it again with 18 seconds left, setting the stage for the Marauders' final possession.
 
"It just shows that we can play with the top teams," said Dooley, a Burlington, ON, native. "Even though our record isn't what we want it to be, we know that we can play with them. Mac's a nationally ranked team, and we're not right now, but we feel like we can beat them. We can contend with any of the top teams."
 
Dooley led all scorers with 21 points while fourth-year forward Ahmed Haroon had 15 points and nine rebounds, including eight on the D boards. Fourth-year centre Martin Popiel contributed 10 points.
 
The Gryphs fall to 3-7 in the OUA Central Division standings, while Mac improves to 6-5, but Guelph remains in a playoff spot according to the RPI (Rating Percentage Index) rankings.
 
The team has two road contests in Ottawa next weekend and will return to the Guelph Gryphons Athletics Centre on Friday, Jan. 27 and Saturday, Jan. 28 against Algoma and Brock, respectively.