London, ON – The Mustangs rode a hot start to a 90-80 win over the Laurier Golden Hawks on Wednesday night.
 
The Mustangs started the game strong by going on an 10-0 run while keeping the Golden Hawks off the scoreboard and forced Laurier to take a timeout less than two minutes into the game. The Mustangs were hard on the offense all 1^st quarter finishing with a 32-9 lead.
 
"It was one of those games where we had a big first quarter and lost the next three quarters but the first one was enough," said Mustangs Head Coach Brad Campbell "Defence really let us down in those last three quarters but we picked up the win which is all that matters."
 
Omar Shiddo led Western with 11 points in the opening frame including going 3 for 3 from beyond the arc.
 
"We didn't get off to the best start last game against Laurier so I kind of took it upon myself to try and get the guys going," said Shiddo "I know when I get hot I can make a couple shots in a row so I was just trying to do what I could to help the team."
 
The 2^nd quarter saw the Golden Hawks respond with a much better effort. Early pressure saw them get back into the game and they outscored the Mustangs 26-19 in the quarter with Romello Taylor adding 7 of his own and Laurier trailed 51-35 at half time.
 
The 3^rd quarter was fairly even with both sides trading chances and keeping the scoring tight with both sides adding 25 points. Julian Walker had 10 points in the 3^rd and Western held the 76-62 advantage through the end of the 3^rd quarter.
 
"We've had quite a few guys in double figured this year and we've been able to score at a relatively good clip because we have quite a few guys who can contribute on offence," said Campbell "We get some guys in the teens and then other chip in with eight or nine and you get a bunch of that and you're able to put up some pretty decent scores."
 
In the final frame both sides continued to battle with the Mustangs getting the better of the Hawks in the early portion of the 4^th. Western would expand their lead to 20 on a Jerric Palma 3-pointer at the 6:12 mark but Laurier would respond with 8-0 run of their own to close the deficit, but it wasn't enough as the Mustangs would hold on for the 90-80 win.

With the win Western remains atop the West standings with a 9-2 record and are riding a 5 game winning streak.
 
The Mustangs have one game left before their holiday break, it comes on Saturday as they travel to Guelph to take on the Gryphons.
 
"We've been in the position before where we dropped a couple game before the break and we don't want to repeat that this time around," said Shiddo "It's a divisional game (against Guelph) so this could really set us up really well for the second half of the year."
 
Tip-off is set for 3pm from the Guelph Gryphons Athletic Centre. Fans can catch all the action on OUA.tv.