Box Score LONDON, Ont. - Third-year guard Omar Shiddo poured in an incredible game-high 27 points to help lead the Western men's basketball team to a 92-70 victory over the Algoma Thunderbirds on Saturday evening in Alumni Hall.

With the win, the Mustangs improve their record to an impressive 10-4 on the season, as they remain atop a competitive OUA West division. The Thunderbirds' loss drops their record to an inverse 4-10 on the season, as they sit in sixth place in the OUA West division standings.

"We try and play a run-and-gun style and to do that, we need to be clicking on defence, so tonight our defence really fed into our scoring," said fifth-year forward Jedson Tavernier. "A couple guys had a big game, but we really connected as a team tonight and that ball movement was the key for us."

"Ball movement is always something we want to focus on, so it was good to see our offence flow and exploit their pressure," said Mustangs head coach Brad Campbell. "I loved what we were doing defensively, but obviously we still have a few things to improve upon, our offensive rebounding being one of them."

Julian Walker also scored in double-figures for the purple and white, putting up 21 points and five rebounds in the win.

Western began the game with an efficient showing on offence, running the fast break and earning easy chances at the rim, but foul trouble quickly allowed Algoma to pull themselves back into the game. A back and forth fast-paced scoring attack eventually left the Mustangs trailing 22-21 heading into the second quarter.

However, Western quickly regained the lead by earning free throw chances of their own and playing disciplined defence on the other end of the floor. Shiddo began to lead the offence midway through the second frame after putting up just three points in the first and helped the purple and white to extend their lead. Lockdown team defence for the remainder of the quarter put a lid on Algoma's scoring barrage and helped lift Western to a 40-31 lead heading into halftime.

The second half was all Mustangs through the opening minutes, as Walker dominated on the fast break behind the passing of Nikola Farkic. Algoma's offence fell off midway through the frame and had trouble regaining its rhythm for the remainder of the quarter. Tavernier led the way defensively for Western heading into the fourth quarter, creating turnovers and sparking easy baskets on the other end to lift the Mustangs to a 68-48 lead heading into the fourth.

The fourth quarter was much of the same for the purple and white, as they extended their lead further by exposed the gaps in the Algoma press, moving the ball with consistency and scoring at the rim with ease. The Mustangs continued to score with efficiency into the final minutes, ultimately earning themselves the 92-70 blowout.

"It's been a good run for us this season, but we have a long way to go to reach out goal," said Tavernier. "Every game is a chance for us to improve and we saw a lot of good things tonight. I think our versatility and defensive toughness were two things we can really be proud of moving forward."

"There are a lot of things that we want to take from this weekend and carry into the rest of the season," said Campbell. "When you're in the OUA, every team is a threat to win if you're not prepared, so we have to come into every single game looking to play our best basketball."

The Mustangs will be back in action this Friday, January 18, where they will host the Waterloo Warriors in their first meeting of the regular season in Alumni Hall. The game is scheduled to tip off at 8:00 P.M. EST and fans can catch all the action live on OUA.tv.