TORONTO — The No. 3 nationally ranked Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) Bold men's basketball team blew out the McMaster Marauders on Wednesday evening at the Mattamy Athletic Centre, 100-63. The matchup was part of TMU's "Y2K Night" event, where fans filled the stands with throwback 2000's outfits.

The last matchup between TMU and McMaster was a close one, ending 78-72 in favour of the Bold. The Marauders made them uncomfortable with their aggression, and gave them a scare in their first game of the season.

"They're tough," admitted Bold Head Coach David DeAveiro when asked about the Marauders, "they're young, they're aggressive, they play hard, and they're well coached."

Immediately after tipoff, though, it was clear that TMU had made adjustments and came ready to play. The squad came out fighting, building an early lead.

The Bold made a living by attacking the glass and outrebounding the Marauders. They finished the first quarter with 12 rebounds to McMaster's five, including a five-to-one offensive rebounding difference. 

Multiple dunks from centre Aidan Wilson and seven points from star forward Aaron Rhooms helped propel the Bold to a comfortable position, and the first quarter ended with them leading 25-17.

Things got off to a slow start in the second, as neither team scored more than five points in the first four minutes.

It was second-year guard Kevin Toth who brought some energy back into the crowd, as he lulled the defence to sleep with some lackadaisical dribbling and threw a sudden lob to his teammate Andrejs Silconoks for a highlight slam.

TMU was all offence from there, raising their point total from 29 to 48 in the last five minutes of the quarter. As the halftime buzzer sounded, they led 48-31.

A highlight of the first half was freshman guard/forward Gurdeep Kalsi, who entered halftime with a career high 12 points and finished the game with 17. His basketball IQ and ability to space the floor are strong indicators of an impactful player at the college level, and he proved that against the Marauders.

Kalsi's play has impressed DeAveiro so far this season:

"We really thought in his recruitment that [Kalsi] was going to be a special player, so it was important for us to get him minutes," he explained, "he's doing all of the little things that we're asking him to do…if he keeps playing like this, it'll be hard not to give him even more minutes. He's really bought into what we're doing."

Kalsi knocked down two threes on the night, to go along with four assists and two charges drawn that both erupted the Bold crowd.

"I was just getting to my spots, letting the game come to me, and I feel like that opened up shots," said Kalsi, "coming in as a freshman, you've got to do the little things to earn your time on the court. I feel like [drawing charges] are the type of things I can do to contribute to the team, and help myself play on the court."

TMU got right back to business in the second half, this time by locking down on defence. They racked up four steals in the third quarter, leading to transition points at the rim. Halfway through the third, their lead had ballooned to 31: 70-39. 

This game was the second in a row that the Bold had gone up big: their previous game against the University of Toronto Varsity Blues had a similar score differential.

Those massive leads gave Coach DeAveiro the leeway to play some of his less experienced players and get them acclimated to the court, and give his star players like Rhooms a chance to recover.

"I'm glad we got big leads in both of our last games," said DeAveiro, "it gives Aaron a chance to rest more than his normal 32 or 33 minutes per game."

DeAveiro was happy that those young players got to see the floor, but not happy with their efficiency:

"I thought that it was important for those young guys to get minutes, but I wasn't happy with the way they were playing…it's hard psychologically because you're up by 40, so you're going to get away from what we would do if it was a closer game."

Even if the team played sloppy, they continued to grow their lead. The third quarter ended with TMU up 87-45, and the final score ended with a 100-63 Bold win. 

The game was the second in a row that the team scored 100 points or more. They currently rank fourth in the OUA in points per game, at 88.0.

The red-hot Bold will see the court again on Sunday, November 9 against the Brock Badgers. The Badgers handed them their only loss of the season in late October, so DeAveiro and his squad will be looking for revenge.

Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. at the Mattamy Athletic Centre, and students can enter for free with their OneCards.