The men’s basketball program at Western is a prestigious home for several professional basketball players. Veteran and 2012 CIS leading scorer Ryan Barbeau currently plays internationally in Germany. This year, the team takes off without Barbeau, but with a versatile squad that plays a well-rounded game. The Mustangs had a busy exhibition season and also travelled out west, playing in a Calgary tournament and coming home with a key win against SAIT. In addition, the team hosted several NCAA Division II and III schools at Alumni Hall, and gained experience from playing alongside potential professional drafts. The team’s closest victory came against Ashland University with a 73-76 loss. The team is yet to play an Ontario team, and this weekend will set the stage or the men’s comeback this season, hoping to top last year’s seventh place standing.
Ottawa – Friday, Nov. 9 @ 8:00pm
The Ottawa Gee Gees men’s basketball team finished second in the OUA West division overall last season with a 13-9 record, good enough for fifth in the league. The team beat the Laurentian Voyageurs in the playoffs, but fell to the Ryerson Rams and missed the OUA Championship game. This season is a rebound year for the garnet and grey and the Mustangs are first to the test. Western aims to close the scoring gap to avoid a repeat of last year’s contest in which the Gee-Gees sailed through with an 84-57 win. Johnny Berhanemeskel is Ottawa’s top OUA scorer and returns for his third season. Berhanemeskel will match up against Mustang Peter Scholtes who has scored over twenty points per game in exhibition play.
Carleton – Saturday, Nov. 10 @ 8:00pm
The Carleton Ravens men’s basketball team have become the standard by which all other CIS schools are judged, winning eight of the past ten national championships. The depth and skill of Carleton is second-to-none: last year, the Mustangs managed 43 points in a 96-43 loss when Western played on the Ravens’ home court. Third quarter action will be the difference this season, as the Mustangs often lost team chemistry in the homestretch and suffered a 6-25 scoring deficit in the third quarter against Carleton in the last matchup. Co-captains Quinn Henderson and Adam Jespersen will lead the court on Saturday as Western looks for redemption. The Ravens will test five new rookies on the court for the game, while Western welcomes Jake Hutchcroft, Andrew Van Camp and Jack Daneyko – three highly touted new recruits.
