LONDON, ON - It was an intense night for the Mustangs on Saturday, who were able to avenge their tough loss to Windsor earlier in the week, out-scoring the Lancers by six points.

Windsor won the opening jump and then opened the scoring for the game. Still, Western responded aggressively, scoring the following five consecutive points. 

It was a very evenly matched game in terms of physicality and skill, with very back and forth scoring, with the largest deficit of the game being an 8 point difference. 

There was great ball movement and communication throughout the entire game. There were frustrations from both sides, with a few obvious missed calls and controversial fouls drawn, which was evident from the level of aggression on the court. 

A lot of the energy during the game seemed to be coming from the stands, with fans from outside the Western community allowed back at Alumni Hall for the first time this season. 

"Having energy from the fans and having more people there helped us get the ball going, especially, in a tight game like that," said Mustangs forward Anthony Zrvnar, "it's good to have the crowd on our side here... so it helped us in that way." 

The third quarter was just as close, with both sides maintaining the intensity and pressure that we'd seen all game. The entire quarter was played within 4 points, with the Lancers scoring right on the buzzer to end the quarter by three.

This was also the worst field goal-scoring quarter for the Mustangs, as their FG percentage dropped from 53% in the first half to just 26% in the third quarter. 

However, this didn't stop the Mustangs, as they maintained the same effort and focus right to the end. "The biggest thing was playing hard, but we just gotta want it more than them, play hard and just leave it all out there," said Omar Shiddo. "Coming off two loses, a close one and one where we just got beat up bad, lost by more than 20, so we just come out and show our pride," he continued. 

This was a sentiment echoed by Zrvnar - "Coach wrote it on the board in big letters PRIDE and EFFORT so coming off a bad loss the first time, we knew that as long as we fought hard, we could get the job done," and that's exactly what they did.

It was a tight, defensive game right out the gate, heading into the final 10. The score remained neck and neck, with no indication that it would let up. The crowd was hyped up, and the energy on the court was just as amped as the fans cheering. 

The Mustangs were in control of the game for the last half of the quarter, leading by only a handful of points. They pulled off an electric win, with the final score reading 90-84. 

The Mustangs will be back at Alumni Hall again, this Wednesday, February 23, against Laurier at 8pm. Tickets are now available at www.westernmustangs.ca