The Mustangs will be back in Alumni Hall this weekend following the holiday break for a matchup against the Laurier Golden Hawks that will mark their return to the court after a pair of losses against the Laurentian Voyageurs and the Nipissing Lakers in early December.

Western currently sits at 5-6 on the season, sitting second overall in a struggling OUA West division. Western is a half game up on the Windsor Lancers in the division and continue to chase the 9-2 Brock Badgers.

December 1 saw the Mustangs go up against the Voyageurs and one of the nation's elite guards in Kadre Gray. Gray put up a game-high 24 points in the contest, along with 17 and 16 points from two other Voyageurs, as the Mustang defence was overwhelmed by the Laurentian scoring threats. Despite a balanced and consistent scoring effort from the purple and white, the Laurentian offence was simply too much to handle as the Voyageurs escaped with an 80-74 victory.

The following night was a similar story for Western. The Mustangs found consistent offence throughout the evening, but an inability to stop individual scorers proved to be Western's undoing, as two Lakers scored over 20 points on the night to lead Nipissing to a tightly-contest 88-83 win.

Western vs. Laurier– Friday, January 5 at 8:00 p.m. - Watch live at OUA.tv

Western will be going up against a Laurier team which has struggled mightily as of late.

The Golden Hawks currently find themselves facing a four-game losing streak, as they look to bounce back against the Mustangs in an interdivisional matchup. This will be the first meeting between the two teams since last season, where Western walked away with a win in a 23-point blowout.

Consistency has been a struggle for the Golden Hawks this season, averaging a respectable 77.1 points per game on 43.4% shooting from the field. However, against Nipissing, a team who Western nearly got the best of just one game ago, Laurier scored just 56 points in a lopsided loss.

The Golden Hawks defence has struggled at times, and troubled Laurier through the opening half of this season. Laurier is allowing teams to score an average of 82 points per game on 45.8% shooting from the field, giving up ten more points per game than the Mustangs. Western, much like the Golden Hawks, has struggled to find consistent offence through the first half of the season, but will look to find their momentum against a Laurier defence which has faced its fair share of challenges heading into the winter break.

Laurier will be led by guard Tevaun Kokko, who is averaging 20.4 points per game for the Golden Hawks while pitching in 4.1 rebounds and 3.3 assists for the team. Western will hope to lock down Kokko early in Friday's matchup, as shutting down perimeter scorers has been a common issue in the Mustangs' losses. Fellow guard Ali Sow will help shoulder the scoring load for Laurier, as he has put up 15 points per game on 49.1% shooting for the Golden Hawks so far this year.