LONDON, Ont - A purple and white lead of 22 points going into the fourth quarter proved too large for the Lions to catch up, making the Mustangs victorious with a score of 87-75 on Friday night at Alumni Hall.
 
The Mustangs record now moves to 9-5, keeping them in second place in the OUA West Division standings, following the Windsor Lancers. York also stays second in the OUA East Division standings with a record of 7-7 after tonight's loss.
 
Greg Morrow took the game high with 35 points and led the Mustang pack with 11 rebounds. Teammate Quinn Henderson followed with 19 points with a 5-8 success from the arc. 6'7" Nick Tufegdzich of the York Lions took his team high of 25 points, with three other teammates hitting double digits as well.
 
"I was able to get in the paint and get some space in there to finish" says Morrow on his play.
 
Head coach Brad Campbell praised his team's execution saying, "We did a nice job with executing our game plan. We did a good job of getting the ball inside and inside touches."
 
The Mustangs came out of the gate with no intention to lose momentum against the Lions. The purple and white were persistent in the key by making smart plays to keep the Lions moving to keep them out from under the basket so the Mustangs can sink the layup. Lion player Tufegdzich made 11 points in the first quarter alone proving him to be the Lions toughest player to defend. Despite Tufegdzichs impressive contribution to the Lion's offence, the Mustangs were able to stay on top of the board to end the first with a score of 22-14.
 
It was raining three-point shots in the second quarter as the Lions attempted to catch up to the home team. Philip Cunningham-Gillen went 2-2 from the perimeter within the opening three minutes of the quarter that allowed the Lions to get within four. Yet, the Mustangs had their own success from the arc where Henderson went a perfect 4-4 in the first half to add to the team's lead. Recognizing the Lions' heightened adrenaline to catch up, the Mustangs stepped up their defence to prevent any further success for their opponents, with the leadership of Tom Figliano who grabbed three rebounds in the half. The Mustangs were able to stay in the lead and finished with a score of 48-34 going into the second half. 
 
The third quarter had the Mustangs' name all over the board. The purple and white kept their eyes on the ball and took advantage of any chance they had for a point. A steal by Henderson in the middle of the quarter assisted Morrow with a clear path to dunk the basket. Morrow made 11 of the teams 26 points in the frame, showing the Lions he is someone to be reckoned with. With a 70.6% success rate in their field goal attempts in the third quarter, the Mustangs took the lead at the end of the frame with a score of 74-52.
 
Trailing behind 22 points, the Lions refused to let the Mustangs win with a comfortable lead by going on a 20-6 run in the beginning of the frame to cut the Mustang lead to 10 points. The Mustangs answered the Lions effort with rebounds, some of which were offensive to give themselves another chance at sinking a basket. The continued persistence of the Mustangs in their offence and defence allowed them to stick to the top of the score. Despite the efforts of the Lions, the Mustangs lead proved too large to retain in the last couple minutes of play. The Mustangs walked away with a final score of 87-75.
 
In preparation for the Mustangs game against Queen's, Campbell says, "defensively we need to be solid and we should be in good shape."
 
"Tomorrow I'm just going to keep attacking the rim" says Morrow on his thoughts for Saturday night's game. "Queen's is a good team to attack the rim at, and I can create a lot for my teammates if I can do that."
 
The Mustangs continue their back-to-back home games on Saturday night against the Queen's Gaels at Alumni Hall. Tip-off is at 8 p.m. and can be watched live on OUA.tv.