LONDON, Ont. - Third-year guard Omar Shiddo poured in a game-high 29 points on 10-13 shooting to help lead the Western men's basketball team to a dominant 102-63 victory over the Windsor Lancers on Sunday afternoon in Alumni Hall. 

With the win, the Mustangs improve to a 15-7 record on the regular season, as they move into second place in the OUA West division standings heading towards the playoffs. The Lancers' loss drops their record to 6-16 on the year, as they remain in seventh-place in the OUA West. 

"The ball just felt good coming off my hand today and when you put the work in, you have to expect to see the result," said Shiddo. "It was nice to have a couple guys have big performances, but I think seeing the depth of our team was the biggest takeaway for us today. We're lucky because we have an entire roster full of guys who are hungry and just love the game, so they're always ready when their number's called." 

"With this being a make-up game for last Wednesday, we were put in a unique situation where we played on the road yesterday and then had to travel back home to play the second game of a back-to-back today, so I was really proud of our resiliency through a tough schedule," said Mustangs' head coach Brian Cheng. "We could've used it as an excuse, but we came out tonight focused and ready to play. It was a dominant performance and something we can use as momentum moving forward." 

Julian Walker also had a strong game for the purple and white, totaling 10 points and seven rebounds, while Eriq Jenkins added 12 points to go along with six steals, producing on both ends of the floor. 

The Lancers were led by Thomas Kennedy, who scored a team-high 20 points and collected 12 rebounds in the loss. 

As he has all season long, Shiddo proved to be the spark behind Western's offence to begin the game, scoring eight quick points to lead the Mustangs to an early 11-2 advantage. Shiddo's initial run proved to be just the beginning, as Western continued to dominate on both ends of the floor to build up a dominant lead to close out the frame. The free-flowing ball movement and rebounding of the purple and white left them with a convincing 27-11 lead heading into the second. 

Walker's scoring took over in the second quarter, as his strength advantage over Windsor's forwards allowed him to score inside with ease and extended the Western lead. Although a string of baskets from the Lancers would threaten the blowout, the Mustangs would once again find their footing defensively and cruise to a 56-28 lead heading into halftime. 

Windsor began to find their footing offensively to start the second half, moving the ball with purpose and knocking down open shots from beyond the arc. Foul trouble then began to haunt the purple and white, as a 5-1 differential left the Lancers cutting into the Mustang lead. However, a number of impressive defensive sequences led by Jenkins allowed the purple and white to maintain a 76-50 lead heading into the fourth. 

The fourth quarter was much of the same for the purple and white, as Shiddo continued to torch the defence while Windsor's third-quarter scoring run ended abruptly. Western continued to execute until the final buzzer, where they walked away with a convincing 102-63 victory. 

"It means a lot more to beat a rival like Windsor, it's a more impactful win than most for a lot of guys in our locker room," said Shiddo. "We swept them in the regular season last year, but they took us out in the playoffs, so we were ready to get this one back on our home court. But we're always focused on the end-goal. Every win matters at this point in the year, so we're just focused on heading into the playoffs on a high note and hopefully with a top-two seeding." 

"We have an unselfish team, so while seeing guys give up good shots for great shots isn't surprising for us, it's always good to see," said Campbell. "It doesn't matter who we're playing in these last two games, we have to take care of business, because these are crucial games in terms of playoff seeding. Our final two games are very important to us, so we need to make sure we're ready and focused heading into the playoffs." 

The Mustangs will be back in action this Wednesday, February 13, where they will travel to Waterloo to take on the Warriors in what will be their second and final meeting of the season. The game is scheduled to tip off at 8:00 P.M. EST and fans can catch all the action live on OUA.tv.