HAMILTON, Ont. - The No. 5 nationally ranked Ryerson Rams defeated the defending national champion McMaster Marauders with ease on Wednesday night, recording an 84-46 win to open the 2020 portion of the schedule.

The Rams defence was stifling all night, limiting McMaster to just 28.8% shooting from the floor, and outrebounding the Marauders 51-30.

Offensively, Ryerson had a slow start and found themselves trailing 12-4 out of the gate, but they quickly found their stroke. Ryerson recovered to hold a 17-13 lead at the end of 10 minutes and they would go on to shoot 46.5% on the night.

The second quarter set the stage for the rest of the game, with Ryerson limiting McMaster to just seven points in the quarter while racking up 19 of their own to gain a 16-point lead at halftime.

The Rams offence just kept on clicking in the second half, posting 22 points in the third and 26 in the fourth quarters while holding the Marauders to 13 in each.

Jama Bin-Edward (Waterloo, Ont.) led all scorers with 22 points while Hayley Robertson (Toronto) added 20 points in the victory. 

Ryerson will be back in action on Saturday, January 11 when they host the Western Mustangs at the Mattamy Athletic Centre for Ontario Basketball Association (OBA) Day. Tipoff is set for 12 noon.