LONDON, ON - It was a tough game for Western, going down by 23 points to Windsor for the first time in a regular season game since the 2017/18 season, 68-91. 

 

After losing the jump, Aryan Sharma opened the scoring for the Mustangs tonight, sinking a 3 two minutes into the game. 

 

There were great passes and incredible ball movement from Western. Still, it just wasn't enough for the consistently strong defence from the Windsor Lancers. 

 

The Lancers went on an 11-03 run, scoring 6 points off second-chance shots. 

 

Western was having some tough luck on the offensive rebounding mainly, which made all the difference, considering they were only scoring 20% from the field in the first quarter. 

 

The Mustangs ended the first quarter down by half, with the scoreboard reading 11-22. 

 

An unsportsmanlike foul was called against the Lancers toward the beginning of the second quarter, sending George Horn to the line. Despite holding a double-digit lead, this foul appeared to be the beginning of some on-court frustrations for the Lancers. 

 

Constant stoppages throughout the second quarter caused some severe disruption to the game, heavily impacting the flow of gameplay. 

 

Unfortunately, the Mustangs' defence didn't seem as tight as other recent games. In contrast, the Lancers maintained a solid consistency in executing their defensive strategy. 

Aaron Tennant scored a second-chance basket off an offensive rebound, bridging the gap in Windsor's lead. Windsor then called a timeout as the Mustangs had quickly brought the game back within single digits. 

 

After a stop-start second quarter, the Mustangs had cut Windsor's lead down to 5 points, the closest the game had been since early in the previous quarter, with 1 minute remaining in the first half. 

 

The Mustangs were able to come close, bringing the game within a single possession with a shot from Omar Shiddo, 30 seconds before halftime. 

 

Halftime seemed to break Western's momentum, and they were now trailing by nine again, just over 2 minutes into the second half. 

 

It was a mix of some unlucky shots and just not converting points off offensive rebounds, with the Mustangs only making two second-chance points, compared to the Lancers' 10 at this moment of the game. 

 

With only 38 seconds left, the Mustangs were no longer in the same competitive position they were at earlier in this third quarter, entering the final 10 minutes of the game down by 24, at 48-72. 

 

The Lancer defence effectively held the Mustangs out of the key, really continuing to force more outside shots and making offensive rebounds more difficult. 

 

Western was able to get back to defend, setting up a defence that seemed more efficient at pushing Windsor further out than earlier in the game. 

 

A timeout with a little over four minutes left in the game seemed to bring some extra life back into the Mustangs' game. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough - losing to the Lancers for the first time since February 2018, with a final score of 91-68. 

The Mustangs will return home for their next game, this Saturday, February 19, once again against Windsor, at Alumni Hall at 8pm. Tickets are now available at www.westernmustangs.ca