WATERLOO, ON - In the first game between these two teams since the Mustangs' early playoffs departure last season, Western and Laurier faced off in a thrilling match, with Laurier ultimately taking the win, 89-73.  

As the Mustangs continued on their string of away games to begin the 2022/23 season, they came up against the Laurier Golden Hawks, a game between two evenly matched teams, which was evident right from the jump. 

Western started with a solid full-court press and maintained a tight defense on the Golden Hawks for most of the first quarter. Laurier was also holding the Mustangs close, not giving up any space, and forcing Western to work hard to put up a shot. 

Despite the Golden Hawks' best efforts, the Mustangs were on fire in this first quarter, going 9 of 11 from the field to start the game. Laurier and Western were going shot-for-shot with each other at this point, with neither team giving the other a chance to pull too far ahead, ending the first quarter with Western trailing closely behind at 28-26. 

The second quarter continued to exhibit the same strong defensive effort we'd seen from the Mustangs in the first 10. Despite each team doing a great job on both ends of the court, a key difference was in Laurier's ability to convert turnovers to points, having made 12 points off turnovers compared to the Mustangs' 4 points almost halfway into the quarter. 

At this point, the Golden Hawks began to extend their lead. They were putting up and sinking more shots than the Mustangs and effectively double-teaming the ball carrier at every opportunity. 

Western didn't seem to let this frustrate them. They continued to dominate in setting up a defense in the paint and holding the Golden Hawks out as much as possible. Down on offense, the Mustangs were also doing an excellent job driving to the basket and drawing as many fouls as possible. 

Unfortunately, Laurier had pulled ahead, with their largest lead of the quarter at 16 points. Western's scoring had also slowed compared to Laurier, sinking only 13 points in the second quarter, compared to Laurier's 23 as the first half ended with the Mustangs down by 11, at 51-40.

There was strong defense from both sides at the opening of the second half, with neither team scoring until just over two minutes in when Aryan Sharma sunk a 3-point shot for the Mustangs.

Western was doing an excellent job of getting back quickly to set up offensive plays after a Laurier basket. However, the Golden Hawks caught on quickly. They began falling back on defense just as fast, making it challenging for the Mustangs to set up for a scoring play properly. 

The Mustangs were working hard, trying to close the gap, with scoring being much closer this quarter, with the Golden Hawks only scoring four more points than Western with less than four minutes remaining. 

Despite closing the gap a little more, Laurier was effective at moving the ball around on offense and consistently created space for an open shot, which allowed them to pull back up to a 15-point lead. 

At this point of the game, with just seconds remaining in the third quarter, the Mustangs had been trailing since the first quarter, causing some evident frustrations, resulting in more heavy contact between players. 

Heading into the final quarter of play, the Mustangs were down 70-54. 

Laurier had possession to start the quarter and continued making strong plays both offensively and defensively. 

Despite the Golden Hawks holding strong in the key, the Mustangs had a couple of excellent chances with notable drives into the paint from Tyson Dunn and impressive shots from further out in the field coming off Jerric Palma. 

The Mustangs had a good spread in points among their starters; however, the depth of the Laurier bench gave them the advantage in this game, with the Golden Hawks racking up a total of 53 points off the bench compared to the Mustangs' 13. 

Western had improved on passing through traffic and making a play for an open shot. In the first three minutes of the final quarter, Western was slowly cutting into the Laurier lead, bringing them as close as an 8-point differential with five minutes remaining. 

From earlier in the game, Western had improved in scoring second-chance points off their rebounds, contributing to the closer margin. 

Laurier held a 15-point lead with two minutes remaining. Despite a hard-fought game, the Mustangs ultimately fell to the Golden Hawks 89-73. The top scorer for Western was Aryan Sharma, putting up 17 points for the Mustangs. 

The Mustangs will return for another two games on the road against Algoma next weekend. The first game is on Friday, November 11, at 8 pm. Fans can watch at OUA.tv.