WATERLOO, Ont – A shot from Ben Davis in the dying seconds of the fourth quarter gave the Waterloo Warriors an 82-81 win over the Western Mustangs on Saturday afternoon at the PAC Gym.
The Mustangs record moves to 1-5, placing them in a three-way tie for third place in the OUA West. The Warriors win is their first of the season, and their 1-4 record also puts them into the same tie for third in the West with the Mustangs and Algoma Thunderbirds.
Four Mustangs hit double digits in Saturday's contest with Eriq Jenkins leading with 22 points, while Jedson Tavernier added 14, as did Omar Shiddo, while Nikola Farkic recorded 10 points of his own. Jenkins led purple and white with nine rebounds, five assists and five steals, while Ian Smart grabbed five off the glass.
Davis' game-winner was one of 17 points on the day, and he was closely followed by the duo of Jon Ravenhorst, and Mike Pereira with 16 and 15 points respectively. Pereira also had a strong game on the boards with 16 rebounds.
The Warriors got off to a fast start on Saturday, starting things off with an 11-3 run that lasted until the midway point of the first quarter. Western then began to turn things around, trading points with their opponents, however the early deficit let the Warriors take a 22-15 lead after the opening 10 minutes.
Western stormed back in the second, thanks in part to nine points from Jenkins, outscoring their opponents 24-15 to take a 39-37 lead into halftime. Western extended that lead in the third quarter, continuing their strong play to take an eight-point lead after 30 minutes.
The Warrior defence came out strong in the final minutes of play. After a 7-0 run with by Davis and Ravenhorst to tie the game up with less than two minutes to go, the stage was set for an exciting finish.
Waterloo took the lead on a shot from Pereira with less than a minute left, then the Mustangs fired back with two points from Shiddo to put Western up late. Unfortunately for the Mustangs the game's scoring wasn't done, with Davis hitting a shot in the final seconds to give the Warriors an 82-81 win.
Next up for the Mustangs is a contest against the Ryerson Rams on Wednesday, November 30 at the Mattamy Athletic Centre. Tip-off is at 8:00p.m. and can be watched live on OUA.tv.
