Box Score After achieving the season's first win last night versus Toronto, the Western Mustangs men’s basketball team looked to maintain its positive spirit, welcoming the Ryerson Rams on Saturday November 24^th. The rejuvenated Mustang squad took to the court with fury in their eyes but fell short to the undefeated Rams with a final score of 79-60.

In the first quarter, the Mustangs played great defense, forcing Ryerson errors. Western struggled to finish inside shots and missed several open opportunities, which allowed Ryerson to control possession of the ball. Tough full court pressure from Ryerson prevented the Mustangs from establishing an offense in their own end.

A great steal from Peter Scholtes led to an easy layup by Quinn Henderson and sparked energy in the Mustang squad. Greg Morrow contributed a solid three-pointer off an the assist from Charlie Drouin and kept the run going. The Mustangs chipped away at the margin and the first quarter ended at 19-13 in favour of the Ryerson Rams.

Morrow opened the second quarter with solid play on both ends of the court. A quick three followed by crucial defensive rebounding gave the Mustangs the edge needed to pull ahead. Western struggled to stop the persistent inside play from Ryerson’s Bjorn Michaelsen who had 10 points in the second quarter.

The Mustangs' offense began to fall into place with a number of impressive passes inside the key, creating easy scoring opportunities. A resilient Western team brought the score to within two points as they found themselves down at the end of the first half 34-32. Morrow had a striking second quarter with 10 points, two rebounds and one assist.

Ryerson controlled the pace of play from the start of the third quarter. Western struggled to break the full court press from the Rams and gave up easy points. George Johnson and teammate Henderson kept their team alive by making clutch shots from beyond the arc. The Mustangs struggled to rotate to the open man on defense, allowing Ryerson to find their touch from the three-point line. Ryerson’s lead increased to a high of 11 points in the third quarter due to their impressive long range shooting.

Just as the Ryerson’s lead began to take off, Jack Daneyko hit a solid three pointer off of an assist from Jermaine Bernard to trigger a Mustang comeback, but persistent three-point shooting from the Ryerson squad upped the visiting team's lead in the third quarter to 62-48.

Western searched for answers that would allow them to defeat a highly skilled Ryerson team in the fourth. Ryerson did not let up on defense and continued its full court pressure. Western did not roll over easily, making tough shots in traffic.

The Rams made consistent offensive decisions with effective ball movement. Despite a great performance from co-captain Henderson and weekend leader Morrow, the Mustangs could not capture Ryerson's lead and fell 60-79. Henderson finished the game with 16 points, three assists and two steals. Morrow pitched in 17 points accompanied by three rebounds.

Western has struggled shutting down the three-point shooting from opposing teams this season. “It revolves around defensive breakdowns. We can’t contain penetrations that lead to the open man beyond the arc,” said head coach Brad Campbell.

“We gave up transition threes. It was Ryerson’s strength and they took advantage of it. On top of this, we couldn’t execute our style of play,” continued Campbell regarding tonight's game.

The Mustangs (now 1-5) prepare for their next game on December, 1st as the team challenges the Queen's Gaels on Kingston turf. Queen's will be a definite challenge for the Mustangs as the third seed in the OUA East conference with a 5-1 record. Tip off is at 8:00pm at the Athletic Recreation Centre.