ST. CATHERINE'S, Ont. – The men's basketball team lost 87-84 in overtime to the Brock Badgers in a high-intensity match on Wednesday evening. The win will allow the Badgers to edge to a 7-6 season record and put the Mustangs down to 11-4.
 
Badgers forwards Daniel Cayer and Godsman Kwakwah kicked off the game with two and three points respectively in order to kick off the game right for the Blue and Red. Julian Walker, sitting as a 41% free-throw shooter in the OUA, tied the game 15-all to keep the Mustangs in it with five minutes left in the first.
 
Heading into the second quarter, the Badgers pulled themselves up to 22 points with Western just behind at 20. With what was not his first of the night, Noah LaPierre put up a three-pointer that would leave the Mustangs at a 10-point deficit as Brock broke 30. Sitting at first in the league with 90 assists, Nikola Farkic showed up in an attempt to close the gap with clean passes to Tennant.
 
The Badgers led by 3 at the start of the second half with 38 points on the board. In spite of their regular season record, Brock was demonstrating themselves to be the stronger team with a hold over Western they couldn't seem to shake. Cayer found space easily amongst the Purple and White's defense, putting up two more points before Eriq Jenkins would return with three of his own. Ukasha Khan cut the Badgers' lead down to one with three points from the corner of the court to revamp the Mustangs' energy.
 
Still leading by 3 points, the fourth and final quarter opened up 53-50 for the Badgers. Julian Walker managed to tie the game 58-58 with a foul shot, but LaPierre immediately responded with a three-pointer that put the Badgers back in the lead – only for Shiddo to tie it back up once more with a 3 of his own. For the first time that quarter, the Mustangs would take the lead with the help of five points from Tennant. Down by two points with a minute left in the game, Jenkins stood at the free-throw line with the potential to tie the game in his hands. He brought the Mustangs to 69, then Tennant up to 70, and with 5 seconds left in the game, Kwakwah failed to hit the buzzer-beating basket and sent the match into overtime.
 
Kwakwah opened up the five-minute OT with two successful foul shots. Tyler Brown pulled the Badgers to a 5-point lead, and with three minutes left in the match, the Mustangs fought to keep their cool. Though the margin swayed back and forth, Brock would ultimately seal the win for themselves with a 3-point lead and final score of 87-84.
 
The Mustangs will return to the court this Saturday, January 18^th, in Hamilton, Ontario. They'll face off against the McMaster Marauders for what will hopefully be their 12^th win of the season. The game is scheduled to begin at 2:00 P.M EST.