WATERLOO, Ont. - After a lopsided loss against the McMaster Marauders, the Western Mustangs men’s basketball team looked to grab a win in Waterloo against the Warriors on Wednesday night. Although the Mustangs have struggled throughout the season, coach Brad Campbell was hopeful after last week’s game and stated his confidence in his players, saying he was happy with the amount of development that has taken place so far this season and a playoff spot was not yet a goal he had given up. After a hard fought battle, the Waterloo Warriors were victorious over the Western Mustangs with a final score of 83-66.

The game started out rather slow with both teams struggling on the offensive end. Peter Scholtes opened the game with a solid jump shot, but struggled to keep his shooting alive throughout the rest of the quarter. Even though successful passing late in the quarter led to a number of open shots, Western could not put points on the board. After five minutes of play, George Johnson stepped up his game with a nice shot from just inside the arc and he went on to make another great shot followed by a spectacular three pointer to end the quarter. The first quarter ended with the score 15-13 in favour of Waterloo.

Western tightened up their defence in the second quarter, forcing a number of turnovers by Waterloo on which they looked to capitalize. Continued hustle from Scholtes gave Western the edge they needed to pull ahead on the scoreboard and after a deep three from Elliot Dooley off of an assist from Quinn Henderson, the Mustangs obtained the lead. Despite falling behind Waterloo was relentless and began to find their touch from beyond the arc, and after continued success from three point range, the Warriors maintained a one point lead at the end of the first half leading 32-31.

In the second half Waterloo began to apply strict defensive pressure that inhibited Westerns ability to execute their regular offence. Fortunately for the purple and white the Mustang guards remained calm and continued to rotate the ball effectively in search of the open man. Peter Scholtes remained a powerhouse for Western, crashing the boards and finishing shots from the post, ending up with a solid seven points in the third quarter. The game remained relatively close throughout, however Waterloo managed to pull ahead towards the end and the third quarter ended with the score 56-48 in favour of the Warriors.

Johnson controlled the beginning of the fourth quarter scoring five consecutive points for Western and Henderson followed his teammate’s lead with a great three pointer to put the Mustangs in a position to even things on the scoreboard. Unfortunately for the Mustangs, Waterloo continued to find success offensively and was virtually impossible to catch. The Warriors snatched the victory with the final score 83-66.

The Mustangs will continue to work at developing for their future. This young team has a ton of potential and they are beginning to find a way to coordinate their efforts to achieve success. The Mustangs hit the floor at Alumni Hall for their final regular season game of the year this Saturday, taking on the Laurier Golden Hawks at 3:00 p.m.