LONDON, Ont – Twenty-nine points from Anthony Spiridis and another 25 from Greg Morrow led the Western Mustangs to an 84-69 win over the Lakehead Thunderwolves on Friday night at Alumni Hall.
 
"Early on in the game we were trading baskets and feeling each other out a little bit," said Mustangs head coach Brad Campbell. "I think where we really pulled ahead was our defence, it really led to some transition baskets and gave us some easy points off some breakouts. We just had to match their intensity and stay with the game plan."
 
"I thought we played well defensively, which was huge because we knew how big of a game this was." said Spiridis. "We knew they were going to come out fired up. We just wanted to take control early and just keep a steady lead throughout the game, and we did that which was awesome, it was good to see."
 
With the win the Mustangs record improves to 10-9, keeping them in second place in the OUA West, while Lakehead falls to 10-8, good for third in the OUA Central.
 
The Mustang record updates to 10-9 keeping them in second place of the OUA West, just four points behind the Winder Lancers. The record for the Thunderwolves updates to 10-8, placing them in third place of the OUA Central.
 
It was the veterans leading the way for the Mustangs on Friday night, as Spiridis' 29 points marked a career-high forward. Morrow's 25 points were next up on the scoresheet, while Peter Scholtes scored 16 points, with 11 coming in the second frame. The trio led the purple and white defence as well, with Spiridis leading with nine rebounds and five steals while Morrow contributed seven rebounds.
 
Bacarius Dinkins and Kache Kopec led the Thunderwolves with 17 points apiece, with Dinkins hitting a 66.7 percent of his field goals. Lakehead's defence was led by Jack Bull with six rebounds, with Alexandre Robichaud contributing five and Nick Burke registering four rebounds.
 
Back-to-back three point shots put the Thunderwolves up early in the first frame. By implementing heavy defence outside the key, the Mustangs were able to force their opponents against the shot clock preventing them from extending their early lead. A six point and three rebound first frame by Morrow helped the Mustangs overcome Lakehead's opening lead and end the quarter up 16-13.
 
A number of steals from both teams sent the ball traveling back and forth on the court, limiting scoring in the second frame. The Mustangs stuck themselves to their man, refusing to let their opponents slip past them to the basket. Scholtes poured in 11 points, many from deep in the key, to help the Mustangs head into the half up 36-27.
 
Western carried over their momentum into the third quarter, going on an 11-2 run to start the frame. With 10 points from Spiridis and another nine from Morrow, the Mustangs were able to extend their lead to 29 points, their largest lead of the game. The score sat at 65-45 going into the final ten minutes of play.
 
Despite outscoring the Mustangs 24-19 in the last 10 minutes of play, Western's lead proved to be too much to overcome as Western claimed an 84-69 victory.
 
"We want revenge on Algoma, of course" said Spiridis about tomorrow's matchup against the Thunderbirds. "We are going to come out and play defensively hard again, that's what we do best, and just see what happens."
 
"We were fortunate that our big three did the scoring." said Campbell on the Mustangs veterans. "[Tomorrow's game] is senior night. You don't lose on senior night. It's going to be a special day for those five, and it's going to be a little emotional, too, but we're going to battle and be ready."
 
The Mustangs final regular season home game is on Saturday, February 27 against the Algoma Thunderbirds. Tip-off is at 8:00 p.m. and can be watched live at OUA.tv.