LONDON, Ont. – Marko Kovac and Omar Shiddo continued their strong offensive performances this evening, combining for 58 points to lead the Mustangs to a 97-84 win over the Waterloo Warriors at Alumni Hall on Wednesday night.
 
"[Kovac and Shiddo] have been pretty hot, and have been shooting the ball well, and our guys have done a nice job of finding them," said head coach Brad Campbell on the recent performances of the two players. "They've been a bit of a catalyst for us on offence, definitely being able to score the ball, and 29 from both of them is big."
 
With the win, the Mustangs' record improves to 12-7 on the year, further cementing their second place standing in the OUA West. The loss updates the Warrior's record to 7-12, remaining locked in fifth place in the same division.
 
Shiddo and Kovac led the Mustangs offence with 29 points apiece, while Kovac also led the team with eight rebounds.
 
"It feels good man, I'm knocking down open shots," says Kovac on his offensive performance. "I've got to give credit to the other guys. They're penetrating very well, finding me open shots, and making my life much easier."
 
Waterloo's Nedim Hodzic led both teams in both points and rebounds, scoring 33 points and pulling down 15 off the boards to finish off the double-double. His total was followed by Simon Petrov, who recorded 27 points of his own.
 
"They put him in some unique situations," said Campbell of Hodzic's performance. "They'll throw him in the high post and he gets a lot of isolations. He's good at spinning and he's crafty."
 
Western began with a tight defence, forcing several turnovers and causing trouble for the Warriors. The persistent defence kept the purple and white tightly contested with Waterloo as both teams traded buckets for much of the quarter.
 
A pair of Warrior free-throws concluded the first 10 minutes of play, with the Mustangs leading 23-21.
 
Western came out of the gates firing in the second quarter to start off the frame with a quick 8-0 run. This set the tone for the purple and white, allowing them to settle into a rapid-fire offence and build up a healthy lead.
 
Kovac and Shiddo continued on their offensive tear, combining for 19 points in the frame. This shooting barrage – hitting 68% from the field– combined with a proactive defence helped Western expand the gap to 55-32, with a buzzer beater from Alex Coote to cap off the quarter.
 
A monster dunk by Kovac in the third quarter can be considered representative of the entire Mustang offence, who were constantly punching holes through the Warrior defence. Unfortunately, the strong performance wasn't the reflected on the defensive end as Western fell flat.
 
Waterloo took advantage of the opportunity, pouring in quick buckets to rapidly close the gap, and eventually brought the game within single digits, trailing 68-57 heading into the final quarter.
 
The final frame began with a back-and-forth exchange, with neither team making much headway on the gap. However, a 10-0 run helped reignite the Western offence, and allowed the Mustangs to come away with the 97-84 win.  
 
The Mustangs will now prepare for a stretch of away games, and are set to visit the Windsor Lancers at St. Denis Centre on Saturday, Feb 3. Game time is 4 p.m., and fans can catch all the action live on OUA.tv.