LONDON, ON - The Western Mustangs soared ahead in the final quarter to defeat the Toronto Varsity Blues, breaking their opponent's win streak following the 96-87 point win on Friday night.
Right from the jump, both these teams came out fighting hard, putting up powerful shots lending them more energy.Â
Toronto was quick to pick up rebounds ad set back up on both ends of the court to start the quarter, pulling down the majority of missed shots.Â
The Mustangs weren't making it easy for them however, holding tight defensively and continuously picking up and covering any open man.
At the end of the first quarter, the Mustangs were down by five, trailing the Varsity Blues 27-22.Â
"Defensive rebounding really cost us in that first half, especially the first quarter, we cleaned that up a little bit and I think that served us well for the rest of the game,"Â said Brad Campbell, the Mustangs' Head Coach, "they have one of the best scorers in the country, Baker - Number 11, we've gotta make things tough, and we have to keep players off their dominant hands."
The second quarter opened with a field goal from George Horn, narrowing the margin to a single possession almost immediately.Â
Western was moving fast, making better use of screens on their offensive end to create space, allowing each other to pull up for clear shots contributing to the Mustangs' ability to level the score just a minute into play.Â
Further, the Mustangs' transition offense was well executed, allowing them to charge quickly through open lanes toward the basket before rushing back to pick up their players on defense.Â
"Our transition is always one of our strong suits, we get stops and we can run the floor well... when we're pushing hard in transition they can't really stop us," said Mustang Tyson Dunn, "Our defense helps our offense, and vice versa, so we just try to maintain that energy on both ends."
It was an electric end to the first half as the lead continued being passed back and forth between the sides, ultimately, leading to the Mustangs holding a narrow lead over the Varsity Blues up 47-43.
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Coming out of the first half leading the Mustangs' scoring efforts was Jerric Palma, who put up 17 in the first 20 minutes of regulation.Â
"It was energy we had just coming out of the gate you know, all the guys went out there and they played their role - they played hard, they played fast and that attributed to our win," said Palma.Â
Western continued to perform well on the transition, moving quickly but effectively through traffic. They were constantly making smart plays, passing through to their teammates on the cut, and putting up shots.
Noah Otshudi was a powerful force in this aspect, consistently being able to fight past his defender, putting up several shots under pressure contributing to Western's narrow lead.
After an intense final few minutes of the quarter, the Varsity Blues continued to trail to the Mustangs and has the final period of regulation began the home side was up 69-63.Â
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The Mustangs pulled ahead to extend their lead up to 12 points in the opening 2.5 minutes prompting a timeout from Toronto to readjust.Â
The Varsity Blues remained intense in holding the pressure against Western throughout the final quarter, becoming blatantly frustrated with the sudden deficit they faced as the Mustangs extended their lead.Â
With just under half the quarter remaining the Mustangs were up by nine points. Both sides remained very physical throughout, putting up a fight for each possession.Â
After a tense final few minutes of play, the Mustangs walked away with the victory, breaking Toronto's four-game streak at 96-87.Â
The Mustangs will play Toronto Metropolitan tomorrow night, Saturday January 13, at 8 p.m. at Alumni Hall. Fans can purchase tickets at WesternMustangs.ca/Tickets, and Western students gain free entry with their ONECard. The game will also be available on OUA.tv.Â
