LONDON, Ont. - A familiar face will return to Western in a place where he helped the Mustangs create fond memories, and another trip to CIS nationals, just a year ago.
Keenan Jeppesen (Stoney Creek, Ont.) is averaging 20 points and nine rebounds per game for the McMaster Marauders, currently in third place in the OUA West at 12-6.
Campbell said the key to victory will partly in containing the senior forward.
He also said, "the ability to rebound defensively" and "take better care of the ball and maximize our offensive possessions" will be factors in the outcome.
The Mustangs need to ensure they stick to their gameplan, with McMaster's offence capable of putting up big points. Western experienced this in Hamilton, Ont., in January with a 93-64 loss to the Marauders.
It's an important game for both teams in the standings. With only road games ahead in the schedule for Western, including a double-header in Thunder Bay against nationally ranked Lakehead to close out the season, winning the final game at home is of great importance.
Only the top four teams in the OUA West will get the chance to host a home playoff game when the post-season begins Feb. 24 with divisional quarter-finals.
The third-place team will host the sixth-place team, and the fourth-place team will host fifth-place team team in the divisional quarter-finals. Winners of those two games will travel to play the first and second-place teams in the divisional semifinals on Feb. 27.
The Mustangs, currently in fourth place with a 10-8 record, can finish no worse than seventh. One more win will guarantee Western a playoff spot as, if they finished the season tied with Laurier, Western holds the tiebreaker in head-to-head competition.
If Western wins out, they would move to 14-8 and could reach first place.
Western will honour its lone senior on the Mustangs men's basketball team tonight, as Jason Milliquet (Sarnia, Ont.) suits up for his final regular season home game.
Milliquet has proven to be one of the most feared three-point shooters in the country.
A fifth-year senior, Milliquet has provided leadership and steady guard play throughout his Western career. A captain of this year's Mustangs squad, he is most known for his play during the Mustangs' playoff run in 2007-08, when in three games he went 14/21 from three-point range to lift Western to an OUA West title win and the process a spot in the CIS Final 8 national tournament.
Playing in two national tournaments in the past two seasons, he is fourth on the team in points per game this season. Tonight, he will be joined on court by his father D.J. and mother Diane from Sarnia, On
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