WATERLOO, ON - Western makes an early exit from the playoffs this year, after a rough night against the Laurier Golden Hawks resulted in a 31-point defeat.
This year's playoffs structure had the Mustangs going head-to-head against Laurier in tonight's sudden death matchup.
Opening the first quarter, Western implemented the tight defense we've come to expect of them attempting to smother the Golden Hawks to force shots from as far out as possible.
However, Laurier had a great night scoring, opening with a 10-0 run against the Mustangs.
The Golden Hawks ended the game with a field goal percentage of 60% and shot over 41% from beyond the arc, while Western was only at 34% and 30%, respectively.
The first 10 ended with the Mustangs following the Golden Hawks closely behind at 13-25.
Omar Shiddo did an incredible job tonight, scoring 10 of his 31 points by the end of the first quarter.
The rough start to the game carried over into the second and just appeared to not be as in-sync as the Golden Hawks were with each other during this quarter.
Western was having some tough luck maintaining consistency, as Laurier held incredible pressure, causing turnovers on the Mustangs, which Laurier more frequently converted to points.
With two minutes remaining before halftime, the Mustangs seemed to find more rhythm to their game. Their tight defense kicked back in, and Western was guarding their players much closer, making Laurier work harder to get a shot off.
Richard Jaxon Cohee kicked into gear and was helping the Mustangs immensely throughout the game and scored 18 points off the bench in his second game of the season.
Despite playing a much tighter game in the second quarter, Western went into halftime down 30-53.
While the Mustangs had been trailing all game, they didn't give up hope and tried hard to keep themselves in the game.
Each time Western was on a roll, the Golden Hawks found a way to disrupt the flow. Laurier's defense was right up in the face of the Mustangs players, which was clearly causing some frustrations both on and off the court.
The third quarter resulted in 51-79 in Laurier's favour.
Western worked hard to bring the game back within reach and didn't give up, fighting right to the end.
The Mustangs fought hard through the crowd's intensity and played well as a team; they just had some unfortunate luck sinking shots and maintaining their momentum tonight.
The game's final score was 103-72 in favor of Laurier, ending the Mustangs' season in Waterloo.
