ST. CATHARINES, Ont. - The Brock University men's rugby team (4-2 OUA) knocked off the first place McMaster Marauders by the score of 28-24 Saturday afternoon at the Badgers Rugby Field.

"I am very proud of the way our guys are playing," said Brock men's rugby head coach Phil Sullivan. "Today we played a very strong game and battled right from start to finish."

The Badgers led 18-14 at the half, with trys from Patrick Nguyen, Ben Thompson and two penalty goals and and a convert from leading scorer Connor Fitzsimmons.

Brock held that lead until 10 minutes into the second half, when McMaster added a try and convert to take a 21-18 lead. The Marauders extended their lead to six, with a drop goal from Andrew Ferguson to go up 24-18 with 22 minutes left in regulation.

Brock would cut the lead to three, after a Fitzsimmons penalty goal, his third of the game, to make it 24-21 with 19 minutes remaining. The Badgers regained the lead with 14 minutes left as Wade Little broke by the Marauders defense down the sideline for the try, making it 26-24. Fitzsimmons would nail the convert to put Brock up 28-24. 

McMaster would continue to push for the equalizer, but it was the Badgers defense coming up strong with some great tackles and defensive stops, on route to their fourth win of the regular season.

Scoring for McMaster were Keran Hurst, Graham Dobbs and Irving Casaban-Sosa with single trys and Andrew Ferguson with three converts and one drop goal.