KINGSTON, Ont. – Twenty-four first half points gave the Western Mustangs men's rugby team all the offence they would need in a 36-12 victory over the RMC Paladins on Saturday afternoon.
 
Rain over the previous 24 hours made for a slick field on Saturday afternoon, however the Mustangs wouldn't let the wet weather hold them back as Justin Chan opened the scoring with a try followed by a conversion from Mike Santangeli to make it 7-0 for the Mustangs.
 
Western continued to have success keeping RMC in their own end, when a deep kick pinned the Paladins on their own goal line. Pressure from Eric Selvaggi caused the ball to squirt out of the ruck and Selvaggi fell on it for a try to make it 12-0 for the Mustangs.
 
Josh Bald scored the Mustangs next two tries, the first coming when Western spun the ball wide and Bald just beat the defenders to the corner, outracing the defenders to the goal line. He followed up that try by scooping up a ball on a broken play and running it in for his second try of the game. Santangeli added a conversion on the second try to give Western a 24-0 lead at the end of the first half.
 
The Mustangs didn't slow down in the final half, as tries from Ade Ojo and Jerry McCarty, combined with another convert from Santangeli, put the Mustangs up 36-0. The Paladins struck back with two tries and a conversion, however it wouldn't be enough and Western walked away with a 36-12 victory.
 
Next up for the Mustangs is their final home game of the regular season as they take on the Brock Badgers on Saturday, October 10, at 5 p.m. at Alumni Field.