LONDON, Ont. – After Western erased a 16-point deficit to tie the game early in the fourth quarter, a three-pointer from from Henry Tan with just over 10 seconds left silenced the crowd at Alumni Hall and gave the Lakehead Thunderwolves a 60-58 win over the Western Mustangs on Wednesday night in an OUA Preliminary Round playoff game.
 
"At no point were we going to go away and we kept developing a plan to get back into things" said Western head coach Brad Campbell. "We just couldn't finish in the last two minutes. We had some bad offensive possessions, a couple of non-conversions, gave up a layup and then didn't grab the rebound on a free throw and gave up a three-pointer. It happens at the end of a game if you don't finish it clean."
 
The loss ends the Mustangs season after recording a 11-9 record during the regular season. The Thunderwolves will advance to the OUA quarterfinals on Saturday against the Ryerson Rams.
 
In their final game at Alumni Hall, Western seniors Greg Morrow and Peter Scholtes lead the purple and white with 17 and 15 points, respectively. Tom Filgiano contributed seven points in his final contest as did teammate Jedson Tavernier. Anthony Spiridis ended his final game with six points, while Morrow led Mustang defence with 11 rebounds followed by Alex Coote with five.
 
"It was a tough last game [for the seniors]," said Campbell. "They've been outstanding in our program. They've been pillars and put in all kinds of work. I'm just really disappointed for our five seniors that they had to go out this way, but sometimes that's the way it works."
 
Four Thunderwolves players recorded double digits in the win with Bacarius Dinkins leading the way with 15 points. Alexandre Robichaud and Kache Kopec followed right behind with 14, and Nick Burke contributed 10 points and led the defence with nine rebounds.
 
After a slow start from both sides, the Thunderwolves began to pull away midway through the first frame, preventing the Mustangs from going inside and forcing the purple and white to commit four turnovers. After 10 minutes Lakehead lead 15-5.
 
An eight-point quarter by Kopec, including back-to-back three-point shots, and five from Robichaud, helped the Thunderwolves maintain their lead over the Mustangs in the second quarter, despite six points from Scholtes, including a three-pointer that brought the crowd to their feet. Outscoring the Mustangs 17-15 in the frame, the Thunderwolves lead 32-20 going into the half.
 
Western began to close the gap in the third, opening the quarter on a 10-4 run to cut the Lakehead lead in half. Tavernier had the highlight of the quarter, scoring on an impressive dunk that not only thrilled the crowd, but boosted the Mustangs momentum. Outscoring their opponents for the first time all game, Western cut the Thunderwolves lead to 44-39 heading into the final ten minutes of play.
 
Tavernier played hero to start the fourth frame making two steals and five points to finally bring the Mustangs up to tie the game at 44-44. Trading points for the remainder of the quarter, the game came down to the final two minutes. Down by one, the Thunderwolves grabbed a rebound off of their own missed free throw and kicked the ball out to Tan who hit a three pointer for the 60-58 win.