LONDON, Ont. - At times it was ugly and sloppy, and in the end the Western Mustangs put themselves behind too much, too early, losing 89-70 to the fifth-place Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks.
Western was outscored 18-5 on second chance points and outrebounded them 48-27, as the Golden Hawks advance to play in the OUA West semifinal at Windsor's St. Denis Centre on Saturday Feb. 27 at 8 p.m.
The poor play in the opening 20 minutes dug Western a hole too deep to get out of in their bid to return to the CIS Final 8 tournament for a third consecutive year.
Western finished the regular season with a 12-10 record in a year with only one starter returning.
"We picked the worst time to play our worst game," said head coach Brad Campbell. "We were flat and got down early and could not recover."
The Golden Hawks outrebounded Western 30-14, including an 11-0 edge on the offensive glass, in the opening half, outscoring them 14-0 on second-chance points to lead 49-28 at the half.
The visiting Hawks were led by fifth-year senior Jesse MacDonald (Brantford, Ont.) and Kale Harrison (Stratford, Ont.) who combined for 37 first-half points en route to 19 and 21 points respectively. Matthew Buckley (Waterloo, Ont.) added 14 rebounds.
Andy Wedemire (Sarnia, Ont.) and Ryan Barbeau (Belleville, Ont.) both scored a game-high 22 points to lead Western. It was the final game for Mustangs senior Jason Milliquet (Sarnia, Ont.) who has no years of eligibility remaining, and he finished with six points and three assists.
Western led briefly in the opening quarter 6-2, but a 12-point Golden Hawks run over two minutes changed the tide for good.
Laurier led by as much as 24 points on the night.
Barbeau, with 13, and Wedemire, with eight, combined for 21 of Western's 28 first-half points - the depth limited Western offensively. The Mustangs scored only two points in the final five minutes of the second quarter.
In the second half, Western pulled in their first offensive rebound in the opening eight seconds, but it would be the only one of the quarter for the Mustangs.
Laurier held an 11-3 edge in three-points and shot 45.6% from the field to Western's 36.7%.
The only concern for Laurier was when MacDonald was hurt with 3:52 left in the third quarter, colliding as he sunk a shot and hurting his knee, rolling back and forth in pain. He did not return.
NOTES: In women's basketball action, Lakehead held on to an early lead to edge Wilfrid Laurier 66-64 to advance to play Western in the OUA West semifinal on Saturday Feb. 27 at 1 p.m. at Alumni Hall. Windsor will host the winner of McMaster-Waterloo in the other semifinal at 6 p.m. Feb. 27. The OUA West women's final goes Wednesday March 3 at the highest remaining seed.
