It happened again; McMaster men’s basketball team to forfeit games due to ineligible player

Deja Vu hits as the basketball team joins the football team as the second McMaster victims to forfeiture

It’s official, the men’s basketball 101-56 blowout win against the Algoma Thunderbirds from Jan. 21 has been overturned as punishment due to the appearance of an ineligible player in the matchup. Their Jan. 18 game against the Brock Badgers also featured the ineligible player, but as a game that was already lost, the result will remain as is.

In a statement from the department of athletics and recreation, it was explained that the player became ineligible due to a “brief course load violation”, but has since been reinstated. The identity of the athlete has remained confidential. 

This story may sound familiar to some after the department released a similar statement about the football team this past September, who also forfeited two games due to an ineligible player, though with a different ineligibility violation, before narrowly missing the playoffs.  

The basketball team was in the midst of a hot streak, having won eight of their last nine. Following the forfeiture of their biggest win of the year and a one point loss to the Windsor Lancers on Saturday night the team has fallen into a slide, losing three of their last five. On the season they now hold a record of 10 wins and eight losses.