Mustangs vs. McMaster Re-cap

By Andy Watson- Mustangs Athletics

Picture- David Harder

LONDON, Ont. - David Harder (Copenhagen, Denmark) scored a career-high 22 points, adding 11 rebounds as the Western Mustangs improved to 11-8 in the OUA West with a 92-86 win over McMaster at Alumni Hall on Feb. 10.McMaster, which lost star forward and former Mustang Keenan Jeppesen (Stoney Creek, Ont.) just under four minutes into the contest, had a great performance from Cam Michaud (Grimsby, Ont.) who led the Marauders with a game-high 27 points along with eight boards.Andy Wedemire (Sarnia, Ont.) added a team-high 25 points for Western along with seven rebounds and two steals, while Garrett Olexiuk (Burlington, Ont.) fought through foul trouble to finish with 12 points and seven boards.With the loss, nationally No. 10 ranked McMaster falls to 12-7.About three and a half minutes into the game, Jeppesen was injured. After Wedemire fell backwards taking a charge, he unintentionally made contact with Jeppesen's inside right knee. Jeppesen stumbled backward and in trying to put weight on his right side, he immediately slid to the hardwood. He was treated and made a brief return to the game late in the first quarter, but immediately subbed back off after struggling in one up-and-down on the floor. He sat on the bench in the second quarter and returned to the bench after the half with the knee heavily bandaged, and by the fourth had a huge ice pack on it. Western led throughout most of the contest, building a lead by as much as 11 points in the third quarter and 14 points in the fourth quarter.McMaster pulled close twice late in the game including a five-point deficit with just under 1:30 remaining.But Western's output at the charity stripe - 37/45 - and ability to put McMaster in consistent foul trouble each quarter proved to be too much for the depleted Marauders roster to handle.Marauders head coach Joe Raso was assessed a technical foul in the game, often protesting calls in what was a physical affair.Two McMaster freshmen players - Jordan Tew (Dundas, Ont.) and Victor Raso (Hamilton, Ont.) - fouled out. Jermaine De Costa (Ancaster, Ont.) played a terrific game, taking Mustangs star guard Ryan Barbeau (Belleville, Ont.) out of the game and hiolding him to just five points, six assists and two steals.Western travels to play at Waterloo on Feb. 13 at 2 p.m. and closes out the regular season with games at Lakehead in Thunder Bay, Ont., on Feb. 19 and 20 at 8 p.m.