LONDON, Ont – Eric McDonald finished his Mustangs career in impressive fashion on Saturday, scoring a season-high 15 points to help lead Western to a 95-89 win over the McMaster Marauders on Senior Day at Alumni Hall.
"The first two plays of the game, Eric was right in on a layup to start us off and had a couple of steals right away. He got us off to a fast start." said head coach Brad Campbell. "He's been a key guy not only on the court for us but a very good leader and a tremendous, positive influence to our guys off the court, as well."
"This is the one night I never really wanted to come because I didn't want to leave my teammates and coaches." said McDonald on his last game. "That was one team I've always wanted to beat and I can't thank my teammates enough for giving me that one"
The Mustangs finish their regular season with a 7-13 record, placing them in third in the OUA West. However, they sit in 14th in the OUA RPI, just shy of playoff contention.
"It's obviously been a rough season and we got off to a rough start in November. We've been much better in the new year which has been great. We had a chance at the playoffs and didn't really convert down the stretch, but we had to get a bunch of wins. To go out on Senior Day and get a win at home, it's good."
McDonald was one of five Mustangs players to hit double digits on Saturday, with Omar Shiddo leading the way with 17 points. McDonald and Nikola Farkic each recorded 15, while Cam Morris and Jedson Tavernier followed with 14 and 13 points, respectively.
Farkic and Morris led the Mustangs rebounding efforts with six apiece, followed by McDonald and Ian Smart with five each.
Rohan Boney led the Marauders with a game-high 21 points, while Lazar Kojovic scored 19 points and David McCulloch added 11. Boney also grabbed 10 rebounds to lead all players and complete the double-double.
The Mustangs were the first team out of the gate on Saturday, opening the game with an 11-2 run over the first two minutes to take an early lead. Western kept that early momentum going throughout the frame, taking a 32-20 lead after 10 minutes.
McMaster bounced back from the early deficit and began to cut into Western's lead in the second quarter, led by Gilmore who contributed seven points and three rebounds in the frame. A three pointer from Chris Thompson pulled McMaster within one in the final minute of the half, but two points from Alex Coote and a pair of free throws from McDonald sent the Mustangs into the half with a 52-47 lead.
Both teams came out of halftime ready to take the lead. Yet, every time the Marauders came within a point, the Mustangs answered back immediately with multiple baskets of their own to extend their lead once again. Western began to pull away over the last five minutes of the frame, thanks in part to a combined 13 points from McDonald and Farkic, to take a 72-60 lead at the end of the third.
The two sides traded points throughout the majority of the fourth before McMaster began to close the gap in the final few minutes, going on a 13-0 run to pull to within four, before a Kovic three-pointer narrowed Western's lead to 91-89 with a little more than 30 seconds remaining.
That would be as close as things would get, with the Mustangs closing out the game and their season with four free throws to take a 95-89 victory.
