LONDON, Ont - A huge second quarter from the Western Mustangs helped create a lead that proved too large for the Waterloo Warriors to close, finishing with a 95-81 win on Friday night at Alumni Hall.
 
Omar Shiddo continued to be a go-to option for the purple and white, scoring 19 points on the night. Marko Kovac was also a major contributor with 15 points of his own, and was joined by teammate Nikola Farkic - notably known for his passing but had a great night with 12 points to accompany his 8 assists.
 
"Well going against Waterloo, they were going under their shots and I began to look for my shot a little more," commented Farkic on his offensive performance. "I was able to hit some shots, and focused on getting other guys involved later in the game."
 
"He did things that he regularly does for us in terms of ball movement and finding guys, the way Waterloo was defending and daring him to shoot the ball," contributed Mustangs head coach Brad Campbell regarding Farkic's night. "We would like him to shoot more, and he took good shots tonight and as a result scored some points."

Nedim Hodzic, one of the most proficient scorers and rebounders in the OUA, his double-double proving just that as he recorded 22 points alongside 10 boards for Waterloo. Teammates Jeff Baradziej and Korbil Gany also contributed to their teams, each scoring 15 points apiece.
 
With 3 consecutive three-pointers from Shiddo, the Mustangs looked to establish their presence from beyond the arc early - helping them materialize an immediate 13-4 run. Although the Warriors were able to catch a break from trips to the charity stripe, they struggled to match Western's scoring pace. Closing out the quarter shooting an effective 53%, the purple and white led 26-20 heading into the second.

Reminiscent of the first, Western remained in charge of the game and retained momentum. Switching up their offence, the Mustangs began battling down-low, making use of penetration to help earn several easy buckets. Waterloo's offence, however, slowed down to a crawl midway through the frame, struggling to get anything going. Capitalizing on the shooting troubles of their opposition, Western's lead grew exponentially as they led 49-32 at the half.
 
The remaining half of the gaming played out in a back-and-forth fashion, both teams exchanging several runs of their own. However, this style of play was only to the detriment of Waterloo, who struggled to close the large gap. As the final minutes counted down, Western cruised for the remainder of the game to a 95-81 win.

With the win, the Mustangs extend their winning streak to 6 and improve to 11-4 on the season, holding their top spot on the OUA West. The Warriors' loss updates their record to 3-8, as they remain stuck in last in the OUA West division standings.

The Mustangs will be back in action this Saturday, January 19, where they will host the Guelph Gryphons for their second and last 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.