LONDON, Ont - A 34-point game by Will Coulthard helped lift the Laurier Golden Hawks over the Western Mustangs by a 90-82 score on Wednesday night at Alumni Hall. With the win the Golden Hawks advance to the OUA Quarterfinals on Saturday night against the Ryerson Rams.
 
In one of the most thrilling games of the year, Greg Morrow and Quinn Henderson took the top spots on the Western scoresheet with 32 and 21 points respectively. In a tough defensive contest, Morrow was able to snatch nine rebounds with teammate Anthony Spiridis grabbing six. Coulthard recorded the game high 34 points with two of his teammates marking double digits on the night as well. Kyrie Coleman's defence was one of the key factors for the Golden Hawk, grabbing 15 rebounds, 11 of which were defensive.
 
"I thought in the third quarter, when we got down about ten, that we're going to have to scratch and claw back," said Mustangs head coach Brad Campbell. "We got some momentum coming back into the game we just didn't make free throws and didn't make some key plays in defence."
 
The Mustangs captain for the past three years, Wednesday's game marked the last time Henderson would put on a Mustang jersey.
 
"I'm at a loss for words," said Henderson. "It has been exciting this year to watch the team grow: me being a fifth year guy and two of my best friends, Anthony Spiridis and Greg Morrow, being fourth year guys growing together and starting to become a great team and having a home playoff game. This is the first year I've ever had a home playoff game, which is exciting."
 
"It's not the way I wanted to end it, but it's nice to leave the program knowing that next year they can do some damage and be a really solid team."
 
"We let Quinn down today. I let Quinn down. He should have had a better send off to his career than losing this game after a good season," said Campbell. "He's been a hell of a player, a hell of a leader. He exemplifies what our program is about in terms of being a student-athlete, being involved in the community, and giving his all in games for us."
 
After giving up the first basket to the Golden Hawks, the Mustangs answered back with their star player Morrow flying over his defender with a dunk for the first two points for the team. The adrenaline was high on the court as the two teams matched each other's shots to change leads five times in the frame. Morrow's success appeared early on the scoresheet as he went 100% at the line and in field goal attempts giving him 13 of his team's points in the first quarter alone. The Mustangs were able to find their groove midway through the frame and maintained a lead to go into the second frame with a score of 28-24.
 
The Golden Hawks determination prevented them from falling further behind the Mustangs score. The defence on both teams glued themselves to their opposition all over the court, making it a challenge for either team to make plays in the paint. Slowly finding success, the Golden Hawks managed to loosen the hold of their defenders to sink smooth baskets from inside the paint which led them to tie the game at 38-38 with less than four minutes of play left in the half.
The game stayed tight for the remainder of the quarter, and the Golden Hawks took a 45-44 lead into the halftime break.
 
With both teams overall field goal success rate a little over 51% in the first half, both teams were on top of their game, and the contest looked like it would head down to the wire as the Mustangs were eager to get their first home playoff game win in a few years. The first two minutes had the audiences heads swinging back and forth on the court with the score changing leaders every basket, with neither team being able to pull ahead by more than a point. A three-pointer by Luke Allin pulled the scoreboard in the direction of the Golden Hawks, increasing their lead to four with a score of 54-50 within the first three minutes of the third frame.
 
As the Mustangs continued to see themselves fall further behind, a combination of positive spirits from the crowd and determination started to spark the Mustangs. Three back-to-back baskets by Henderson put the Mustangs within two points of the visitors with less than two minutes left to play in the third. The Golden Hawks were able to keep up their strong defence and take the frame with a score of 69-64 going into the final ten minutes of play.
 
Mustangs pride ran high across Alumni Hall as the crowd cheered on the Mustangs throughout the final frame. Despite finding himself faced with more than one defender, Morrow was able to make a fast break to make an impressive dunk around the 5:45 minute mark that put the Mustangs in the lead and had the crowd on their feet. The Golden Hawks started a full court press that had the Mustangs on their heels trying to keep up with less than four minutes to play.
 
The final two minutes put both teams in bonus territory, but the Mustang fouls added up and gradually added points to the Golden Hawk lead. With 24.7 seconds left the Golden Hawks heavy defence kept them in the lead, and they'd walk away with a 90-82 victory.