Box Score LONDON, Ont. - After a tough game against the Brock Badgers over the weekend, the Western Mustangs men’s basketball team looked for a win against the Waterloo Warriors in front of a hometown crowd at Alumni Hall. After a hard fought, very close game, the Mustangs fell to the Warriors in heartbreaking fashion, as the Warriors scored with three seconds remaining to pick up the 75-73 victory.

In the beginning of the first quarter, Waterloo controlled the game going on a 6-0 run. A quick three from Greg Morrow sparked energy in the Mustang squad and after a solid display from the Western leaders, Western found themselves up on the scoreboard. Both Morrow and Elliot Dooley contributed greatly to the Mustang run and provided their team with the edge needed to pull ahead. Peter Scholtes found success from beyond the arc and at the end of the first quarter Western held a 19-17 lead.

In the second frame, the Mustangs displayed a tight defence, which led to a number of missed shots by the Warriors. Western then began to capitalize on the inefficiency of the Waterloo offence, taking control of the game and going on a 9-0 run. Great offensive movement away from the ball created a number of opportunities for Western as well as effective, fundamental offense and all Western leaders contributed equally to the success of their team in the second quarter. The first half ended with the score 41-34 in favour of the Mustangs.

After a strong start to the third quarter by Waterloo’s Kyrie Coleman, Western’s lead began to diminish. Great offense off the bench from Dooley inspired the Mustangs but continued success from Waterloo allowed them pull in front to take a small lead, ending the third quarter with a 60-58 lead on the home team.

As anticipated, the fourth quarter was a nail biting 10 minutes and came down to the final seconds of the game. In the quarter’s opening moments, Western dominated on the offensive end thanks to Quinn Henderson, Scholtes, and Charlie Drouin. Unfortunately for the Mustangs great defence from Waterloo caused Western to go scoreless for two minutes late in the quarter, allowing the Warriors to maintain a 71-70 lead as the clock counted down. After Waterloo extended their lead to 73-70 Dooley made a clutch three pointer to tie the game up at 73 with just under one minute left. In the final seconds of the game, Jaspreet Gill for Waterloo made a fantastic layup, leading to a final score of 75-73 for the Waterloo Warriors.

The Mustangs have a chance to bounce back from tonight’s heartbreaking loss this weekend as the team travels to Hamilton for a Saturday afternoon showdown with the McMaster Marauders. Tip-off is set for 3:00 p.m.