After some time away from competition the Mustangs are back in action this week as they'll hit the court at Alumni Hall to face the Queen's Gaels on Friday, January 6 and the York Lions on Saturday, January 7.
Western will be looking to turn their luck around after finishing the first portion of the season with a 1-7 record, placing them in a tie for fourth place in the OUA West Division alongside the Waterloo Warriors.
Eriq Jenkins leads the purple and white pack with 14.8 points per game, topping the team's scoresheet multiple times this season with his best performance coming against Laurier on November 23 where he recorded 26 points. Rookie Omar Shiddo follows Jenkins with 12.6 points per game, including scoring in the double digits in many contests including a 20-point effort in the Mustangs most recent game on December 3 against Toronto.
Jenkins also leads the team with 5.8 rebounds per game and 2.4 assists, while Nikola Farkic follows with an average 4.8 rebounds and 5.4 assists per game. Alex Otzyv and Jedson Tavernier also contribute on the boards with 3.6 and 3.4 rebounds per game, respectively.
Western vs. Queen's – Friday, January 6 at 8:00 p.m. – Watch live on OUA.tv
The Queen's Gaels recorded a successful first half of their season with a 5-1 record sitting in a tie for second place with Toronto in the OUA East. Their only loss came in their season opener against the York Lions before they began their winning streak.
Veteran Sukhpreet Singh leads the team with 16.8 points per game, recording 26 points in their York contest and continuously scoring double digits in each contest since. He's followed by forward Tanner Graham who records 13.2 points per game, while teammate Isse Ibrahim contributes an average of 11.7 points.
Graham leads the Gaels strong defensive front with 10.5 rebounds per game, and Jess Graham follows with 5.3 rebounds a game, while four other Gael's record over three rebounds a game.
Western vs. York – Saturday, January 7 at 8:00 p.m. – Watch live on OUA.tv
The York Lions opened their season with a pair of wins, however they closed out the first part of their schedule with four straight losses and now sit in fourth place in the OUA East.
Scoring falls heavily on the hands of a pair of Lions, with Jayden Frederick and Brandon Ramirez leading with 18.7 and 16.4 points per game, respectively. Frederick records more than 13 points a game, while both him and Ramirez combined for 50 points in the Lions season opener victory against the Gaels.
Four players lead Lions defence with Frederick leading with 7.2 rebounds, Ammar Hassan with 6.3 rebounds per game, while Ramirez and Nidun Chandrakumar follow with 6.2 and 6.0 rebounds per game respectively.
The Lions record strong scoring success with 44.2 percentage in field goals and 34.5% success from the three-point line. With the Lions strong play on both ends of the court, the Mustangs have to prepare for a tough battle on Saturday night.
