LONDON, ON - The Mustangs unfortunately were not able to hold their lead against the Laurier Golden Hawks tonight at Alumni Hall, going down by 1 point, 82-81. 

 

Tonight's matchup was incredibly intense from the jump, with both sides implementing a solid defence. 

 

Western had excellent ball movement and fast, accurate passing, which helped bring them to the lead for the entire first quarter. The Mustangs did a great job of guarding their players with a solid defence, holding strong within the three-point line and forcing many shots from the outside. 

 

The Mustangs were also doing a great job of drawing Laurier players away, creating an opportunity for an open shooter, assisting them in ending the first quarter up 22-13. 

 

The second quarter opened with a great scoring play, which set the tone for the next 10 minutes of play. The Mustangs made great use of the open shot on offense and always had a man posted in the key to catch the rebound on the layup. 

 

There was some impressive defence from Western that had Laurier making some rushed, inaccurate passes right across the court, which assisted the Mustangs in running down the shot clock as much as possible. 

 

Western was still able to hold the Golden Hawks off the lead they gained in the beginning 20 seconds of the first quarter, as they headed into the second half with a smaller lead of 4 points. 

 

The Mustangs maintained a great defence, not leaving room for uncontested shots. There was an amplified intensity in the second half, with both teams collecting several offensive fouls in this third quarter. 

 

The tension was also increasing, with neither team backing off and vocal support from the crowd fuelling the intensity on the court. Western kept holding Laurier off from the lead, ending the quarter with a one-point lead. 

The final 10 minutes of the game saw a huge increase in intensity both in the stands and on the court. Mustang's assistant coach Joel Delcarmen said, "fouls went both ways; you have to fight through the fouls." 

 

The lead this quarter was slashed, it was a much closer game than we saw in the beginning, and the Golden Hawks took advantage of this, and back-and-forth scoring ensued. 

 

This game came down to the final seconds and just one possession, where neither team gave up or gave the other team an inch of space. Unfortunately, the Mustangs could not regain the lead they once had, with Laurier ending the game up by 1, for a final score of 82-81. 

 

As the Mustangs head into their final games of the regular season, with the following three being on the road, Delcarmen acknowledged the focus of the Mustangs over the coming days being consistency. "It's a game of one possession. That's the way it's been with this team, it's a good rivalry, and they got the better of us today." He continued, saying, "We got to make the plays at the end of the game to win the ball game. It's a one-possession game, so we are right there."

The Mustangs will play their next game this Saturday, February 26, against Laurier, in Waterloo at 3 pm. Fans can watch live at OUA.tv.