LONDON, Ont. – A 26-point second quarter gave the Mustangs a lead they wouldn't relinquish as Western defeated the Lakehead Thunderwolves 84-75 on Friday night at Alumni Hall.
"We usually come out a little bit flat, a little bit lifeless at times, and do a better job of that in the second half," said head coach Brad Campbell. "We need to be better defensively, we had a couple of stretches there in the first and fourth quarter where we fell apart."
"We started off sluggish. I know what I'm capable of and this was my kind of way to get us going," said guard
Omar Shiddo on his offensive performance in the second quarter that helped spark the Mustangs offence.
With the win, the Mustangs will move to 7-6, and continue to hold down second in the OUA West. The Thunderwolves' loss updates their record to 1-12 on the year.
Four Mustangs recorded double digits in the win, with Marco Kovac leading the charge with a game-high 26 points, followed by Shiddo,
Eriq Jenkins, and
Henry Tan, who scored 19, 14, and 13 points, respectively.
Jenkins,
Nikola Farkic, and
Christopher Clegg led Western's rebounding efforts, all recording six boards a piece.
Mor Menashe led the Thunderwolves' offence with 22 points, followed by Quincy Johnson who dropped 11 points. Darnell Curtin and Jack Bull helped on the boards, both pulling down six rebounds each.
The first quarter began with an exchange of buckets, with no team being able to come out in front. However, defensive breakdowns by the Mustangs enabled the Thunderwolves to open up the floor and kick it out to their three-point shooters; going 3-5 from beyond the arc, helping give Lakehead a 25-19 lead after 10 minutes.
The second frame was a different story for Western. An improved defensive effort helped them come up with stops. They combined that with an improved offensive pace, as the Mustangs took advantage of their skill from the three-point line to sink four baskets from long range in three minutes. Shiddo played a key role in the frame, heating up on a solo 8-0 run, and helping Western lead 45-39 at halftime.
The third quarter consisted of a back and forth affair, with neither team making much of dent on the Western lead for much of the frame. However, a 6-0 run in the final minute helped the Mustangs widen the gap to double digits, leading 64-52 heading into the final quarter.
Despite the Thunderwolves continuing to push to tie things up, the Mustangs lead was too much to overcome, with the purple and white taking an 84-75 win.
The Mustangs will be back in action on Saturday, January 13, playing the second portion of their series against the Lakehead Thunderwolves. Game time is set for 8 p.m. at Alumni Hall, and fans can catch all the action live on OUA.tv
