TORONTO – The Western Mustangs closed out the 2016 portion of their scheduled on Saturday afternoon, falling to the Toronto Varsity Blues 80-66 at the Goldring Centre.

The Mustangs wrap up the first portion of their season with a 1-7 record, placing them in a tie for fourth place with Waterloo in the OUA West Division. The Varsity Blues improve to 5-3 with the win, good for second place in the OUA East.

The Mustangs were led by Omar Shiddo who recorded 20 points, while teammates Cam Morris and Nikola Farkic recorded 11 and 10 points, respectively. Morris and Eric McDonald led defence with five rebounds each, while Farkic recorded seven assists.

Devin Johnson's 20 points topped the Varsity Blues scoresheet, followed by Daniel Johansson who contributed 16 points and also led his team with eight rebounds.

After a back-and-forth start to Saturday's contest, the Varsity Blues took control midway through the first frame, going on a 10-2 run before closing out the first quarter with a 20-10 lead.

The Mustangs responded well in the second quarter, with Shiddo and Farkic combining to shoot 10 of the team's 19 points in the frame, equaling the 19 points from Toronto. The even score allowed the home side to maintain their 10-point advantage, with Toronto up 39-29 after 20 minutes.

Although the two sides traded points to open up the third frame, the Varsity Blues found success from beyond the arc, hitting five three pointers in the quarter, allowing them to extend their lead to 63-42 heading into the fourth quarter.

Western fired back in the final 10 minutes, outscoring their opponents 24-17 including six points each from Morris and Farkic, but it wasn't enough to overcome the Varsity Blues lead, with Toronto taking an 88-60 victory.

The Mustangs will now be away from game action until 2017, when they return to home court on Friday, January 6, to face the Queen's Gaels, followed by a matchup with the York Lions on Saturday, January 7.