NORTH BAY, Ont - An impressive scoring effort from Omar Shiddo helped spark a huge third quarter comeback, with the Western Mustangs clawing back and earning a tough 77-72 win over the Nipissing Lakers on Friday night.

Shiddo led the purple and white on the offensive end, exploding for a season-high 34 points. Eriq Jenkins and Jedson Tavernier were also prominent contributors, scoring 11 and 14 points, respectively. Nikola Farkic, although not directly scoring, was able to propel the team forward with his 9 assists and 5 steals.

Marcus Lewis was the go-to scorer for the Lakers as he dropped 26 points on the night. Teammate Marvin Ngonadi was also a large part of the Nipissing offense, putting up 18 points of his own.

The Lakers, eager to recover from a poor previous showing, came out of the gates firing and initiated an immediate 10-2 run. However, after a timeout to compose themselves, Western came out looking like a new team - tightening up their defense and closing the gap against their competitors. A 3-point bomb from Shiddo helped edge the Mustangs narrowly in front, and as buckets were exchanged in the final moments of the quarter, Western had just pulled ahead 19-18.

Despite the competitiveness Western had displayed earlier, Nipissing moved the ball around the Mustang defense to effectively convert on several jump shots. With an 8-0 run at the midway point of the frame, Western struggled to close out the midrange, and had eventually fallen behind 33-44 at halftime.

Fresh out of the locker room, Shiddo came out a completely changed player. Proving himself once again as a lethal threat, his shooting hand was on fire as he dropped 17 points in the quarter. The Nipissing defence struggled to put a stop to him, and with the massive momentum swing, other players seemed to catch fire too. A last-second steal and buzzer-beating jumper by Jenkins capped off an incredible quarter for the purple and white, as they led 61-53 heading into the final frame.

Refusing to give up, the Lakers mounted a comeback of their own to close the gap within two possessions. However, the momentum remained on Western's side as they held onto the lead for the remainder of the game, icing out the competitive contest with a 77-72 win.

The win helps improve Mustangs' record to 6-4 on the year as they move up to second place with Brock in the OUA West. The Lakers have their record for the season updated to 1-8 as they remain stuck in last place in the OUA East.

The Mustangs will be back in action this Saturday, December 1, where they face off against the Laurentian Voyageurs for their first meeting of the season. The game is scheduled to tip off at 8:00 P.M. EST and fans can catch the action live on OUA.tv.