OTTAWA - A strong second quarter for the Gee Gees helped lead them to an 88-57 victory over the Mustangs on Saturday night at Montpetit Hall.
 
Western ends the first half of the season with a 3-4 record, keeping them in third place of the OUA West Division standings, while Ottawa remains undefeated and tied for first place with the Carleton Ravens in the OUA North.
 
Peter Scholtes and Greg Morrow led the purple and white pack with 18 and 15 points respectively. Scholtes and Tom Filgiano led the defence with eight rebounds a piece. Morrow followed with seven, six of which on the defensive side.
 
Mehdi Tihani scored the game-high 20 points, including seven successful three point shots in the contest. Brody Maracle followed with 15 points, and three of the Gee Gees hit 10 points a piece. Their defence deemed stronger than the Mustangs, with Caleb Agada leading the way with 13 rebounds. Nathan McCarthy and Matt Plunkett made seven off the glass each.
 
Both teams came out of the gate ready to race to the finish. After a patchy start, the Mustangs caught up to an early Gee Gee lead and exchanged baskets until the final minute of the first frame. A final basket from Spiridis marked the Mustangs in the lead, ending the first ten minutes of play in the Mustangs favour with a score of 16-14.
 
Things turned around fast in the second frame, with the Gee Gees recording an outpour of points against their opponents. Tihani recored eight points for Ottawa, including two three point shots.

The Gee Gees gave the Mustangs a hard time getting to the basket, with the team's only four points in the frame being scored by Scholtes. Despite taking a lead in the first frame, the Mustangs could not connect in the second and trailed 40-20 after the first half of play.
 
The purple and white fought hard in the third frame to get themselves back in play. Morrow recorded eight points in the frame, beating out his double team defence and making high jumps over his opponents to clear the shot.
 
A number of baskets within the last three minutes of the frame by Anthony Spiridis and Morrow brought the Mustangs within 15. Despite outshooting the Gee Gees by two points in the third quarter, the Mustangs continued to trail 58-40 going into the last ten minutes.
 
Western continued to struggle on capitalizing on their shots, facing the fast paced defence of the Gee Gees. The home team managed to make a number of unanswered shots by losing their screen and making a drive to the basket. The Mustangs could not overcome their deficit and gave up a 88-57 victory to the Ottawa Gee Gees.

The Mustangs come back from the winter break in Guelph to take on the Gryphons at the W.F. Mitchell Athletics centre on Saturday, January 9, 2016. Tip-off is at 8 p.m. and can be watched live on OUA.tv.