LONDON, Ont. – A dominant second quarter gave the Western Mustangs a lead they wouldn't relinquish, helping them sail over the Guelph Gryphons in a 99-80 win on Wednesday night at Alumni Hall.
"I think what you saw there is when we can make some shots, set our defence, and take care of rebounding," said Mustangs head coach
Brad Campbell. "We're trying to penetrate and get middle, and got some good kick outs and looks, and today we we're a little more confident and shot the ball well. Once our guys see some three's going in, we're generally a bit of a collective group, so we had those looks going in and it got a little bit contagious, and multiple guys were making them."
Four Mustangs scored in double digits in the win, led by
Eriq Jenkins, who recorded 22 points on the night, followed by
Marko Kovac,
Henry Tan, and
Omar Shiddo, who scored 19, 17, and 12 points, respectively.
Christopher Clegg had an enormous night on the glass, pulling down 16 rebounds to lead all players.
"I think we did a good job of executing on offence, trying to get into the paint, either finishing for myself or getting it to my teammates," said Tan. "I'm just doing what I can off the bench and taking what the defence gives me. Today we did a good job of rebounding, me getting on transition and doing what I do best."
The Gryphons were led by Jonathan Wallace, who recorded 18 points on effective 7-11 shooting. Tommy Yanchus followed closely behind with 15 points of his own.
The fourth straight win further reinforces Western's hold on second in the OUA West with a 9-6 record. The loss updates the Guelph record to 3-11 on the year, keeping them in seventh in the West.
Western began with a steady first quarter, but Guelph kept the game tight, and both teams traded buckets for much the frame. Tan established an early scoring presence for the purple and white, sinking eight points, and finished out the quarter with a buzzer beater, giving the Mustangs a 22-20 lead after the first 10 minutes of play.
A quick 6-0 run by the Gryphons started the offence for the second quarter, but Western promptly answered with a 10-0 run of their own, with Kovac hitting back-to-back shots from beyond the arc. Tan settled into a steady rhythm to continue an impressive offensive performance. As the frame progressed, this fury of Mustang offence helped widened the gap to 16 points, with Western leading 53-37 heading into halftime.
Guelph didn't relent, and continued to battle it out. However, Western held their ground, and refused to give up their lead. The purple and white continued to be proactive on the defensive end while being incredibly efficient on the other end of the floor, furthering the gap with each bucket. With the expanded difference, the Mustangs led 84-54 going into the fourth.
Guelph put their best efforts forward to try to bring the game back, but the lead proved too large to overcome. Western played out the rest of the game conservatively, and finished off the final minutes with a 99-80 win.
The Mustangs will be back in action on this Saturday after, where they'll be playing their first game of the season against the McMaster Marauders. The game will be at home in Alumni Hall at 3 p.m. Fans can catch all the action live on OUA.tv.
