Fourth-quarter lapse costs Mustangs victory

Andy- Watson - Mustangs Athletics

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LONDON, Ont. - It was a tale of two Western Mustangs teams on Jan. 16 at Alumni Hall.At times, the Mustangs men's basketball team looked like a squad that could return to the CIS men's basketball national championships. At others, their inconsistency made it look like even making the playoffs would be a tough accomplishment.The Mustangs were outscored 31-11 in the fourth quarter, losing 85-80 against the young, feisty Brock Badgers at Alumni Hall on Jan. 16.Western falls to 7-5 in the highly competitive OUA West, while Brock improves to 5-7, tied for sixth in the division.Andrew Wedemire (Sarnia, Ont.) was brilliant for Western, leading his squad with a game-high 27 points and 18 rebounds on 10-for-15 shooting, including a perfect 7/7 showing at the free-throw line. He added six assists and a steal.Badgers rookie Clinton Springer-Williams (London, Ont.) was a monster for Brock, scoring a team-high 23 points adding four rebounds and a steal. Brock's Andrew Ferguson hit three of his eight three-point attempts to finish with 18 points and nine boards, four on the offensive glass.The Mustangs were perfect from the charity stripe on all 16 attempts, but shot a dismal 33% from field - 8% from three-point land - in the second half. By contrast, the Mustangs shot 53% from the field in the opening half, including 42% from three-point range.Taking a 17-point lead into the halftime break, the Mustangs played well enough to keep a 15-point lead entering the fourth quarter.Two Badgers in foul trouble, Didi Mukendi (St. Catharines, Ont.) and Andrew Cicuttini (Dundas, Ont.) both picked up their fourth personals in the third quarter - Mukendi with 7:30 left - and were forced to the bench.Brock responded well to the adversity.Holding the Mustangs offence to just two points through the first seven minutes of the fourth, the Badgers made things tough for Mustangs leading scorer Wedemire, double- and triple-teaming him in the post.Humber College transfer Mike Cruickshank (Toronto) gave Brock its first lead since the first minutes of the game at 72-71, hitting a jumper with 3:50 left. Then a Marcus Barnett (Hampton, Va.) inbound pass went off Wedemire and Western was forced to foul Springer-Williams. Springer-Williams hit both from the line to make it 74-71 and complete a 20-2 Brock run.Brock's full-court pressure and doubling on Wedemire made it difficult for the Mustangs to establish any rhythm on offence.Barnett hit three treys for the Mustangs in the game, all coming at key times in the game. He finished with 11 points and nine rebounds. Garrett Olexiuk (Burlington, Ont.) quietly put up 20 points and added six boards.The Mustangs host the nationally ranked Windsor Lancers (9-3) on Jan.