LONDON, Ont. - Following a pair of disappointing upsets to the Lakehead Thunderwolves this past weekend on the road, the Western men's basketball team will be back in Alumni Hall this Wednesday for their second and final meeting of the season against the Laurier Golden Hawks before returning to the road for a matchup with the McMaster Marauders in Hamilton, Ontario.

This past weekend may have been one the Mustangs had marked on their calendar as a pair of wins, but Lakehead's ability to rebound the basketball and slow down Western's normally high-speed offence allowed them to grind out two hard-fought victories. Western, who normally thrives through a high-octane offence, scored just two fast-break points between the two games. Isaiah Traylor led the way for the Thunderwolves on both Friday and Saturday, totalling an impressive 29 points and nine rebounds on Friday and following it up with 17 points to close out the season series.

With the pair of losses, the purple and white now sit at 12-6 on the season, good enough for third in the OUA West division standings.

However, Western will have to put the disappointing weekend behind them as they look ahead towards two competitive programs in Laurier and McMaster.

Laurier, who currently boasts an impressive 13-5 record on the season, will be looking to defend their place atop the OUA West division standings against a Mustang team that's nipping at their heels. However, getting the best of Laurier will be no easy task. Western's second loss of the year came in a 70-63 game against Laurier on the road, where consistent scoring proved to be an issue all night long for the purple and white.

But a poor shooting display against Laurier certainly isn't an anomaly. The Golden Hawks have proven all season long to have one of the more impressive defences the OUA has to offer, holding opponents to just 78.0 points per game on 41.3 FG% and 31.3 3PT% shooting averages. Laurier has also been elite at sparking turnovers this season, sitting second only to Western in the province in steals and averaging 9.3 per game heading into Wednesday. However, it was the purple and white who controlled the turnover battle in their first meeting, forcing Laurier in 19 throughout the night and holding themselves to just seven.

However, it's been the Golden Hawks' ability to dominate on both sides of the ball that's made them such a threat to this point in the season. So far, Laurier has consistently played at one of the fastest paces in the OUA and has been lethal from beyond the arc, scoring 9.9 threes per game, aided by an impressive 14.8 assists per game. But if Western can keep their turnovers in check and limit Laurier from three-point range, they could very well find themselves redeeming their earlier loss and retaking control of the OUA West standings.

But after a quick one-game homestand, the Mustangs will once again be back on the road for their first meeting with the Marauders this season. McMaster's had a middling season so far, as they sit at a 9-9 record and hold fourth place in the OUA West division standings. As a relatively young team, the Marauders have sat around the middle of the pack all season long and their stats reflect that.

They've been good, not great, throughout the year, but their consistency could definitely prove dangerous if a team were to underestimate them. McMaster doesn't shoot the ball well from distance, but aside from their long-range shooting, it's been a relatively solid year in terms of offence. The Marauders pass the ball well, create and knock down quality shots, and have proven themselves to be a dominant rebounding team throughout the year. However, it's been on the other side of the ball where McMaster's left a lot to be desired.

Besides their ability to guard the three-point shot fairly well this season, it's been a challenge for McMaster to stop opponents from scoring in the paint thus far. Whether it's their tendency to foul or their inability to block shots, McMaster's porousness on the inside has allowed games to slip away from them on a number of occasions, a weakness which Western will be looking to take advantage of come this weekend.

After leaving a disappointing weekend behind them, Western will be looking to bounce back with a pair of momentum-shifting wins that could very well shift the dynamics of the OUA West division as they head towards the playoffs.

The two games are scheduled to tip off at 8:00 P.M. EST on both Wednesday and Saturday and fans can catch all the action live on OUA.tv.