Monday, October 17, 2011

Mustangs 72 Transylvania 63

Story by Mustangs Athletics Ray Kim

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Barbeau's clutch performance leads the Mustangs to victory in exhibition basketball action

LONDON, Ont. – The Western Mustangs men’s basketball team battled the Transylvania Pioneers (KY) on Monday in exhibition action at Alumni Hall, coming out on top 72-63.

After opening the pre-season with 3 losses, the revamped Mustangs were looking for the “W”.  The Mustangs started with some great energy and in the first quarter, rookie Ryan Higgins from Fergus, Ontario led the team with his strong play. Higgins showed some potential doing a little bit of everything, closing out on shots, knocking down open jumpers, blocking shots and scrambling for the ball. Transylvania led after one, 24-22.

Both teams were sluggish coming out of the second quarter, turning the ball over many times and missing shots. The two teams went into halftime with Transylvania leading 34-32.

In the third quarter, Mustangs’ 2nd year guard Quinn Henderson helped his team keep up with the Pioneers by scoring 7 of his teams’ 12 points in another low scoring quarter for both teams.  The Mustangs had cut the lead to 1 after three quarters, trailing 45-44 heading into the fourth.

The final quarter saw the Mustangs battle to take the lead. Heavy defensive pressure led by Jermaine Bernard, Peter Scholtes’ rebounds and Ryan Barbeau’s clutch baskets allowed Western to take and maintain the lead. Barbeau scored 10 of his game high 20 points in the fourth quarter, including a contested three. The Mustangs ended the game with a 72-63 victory.

The Mustangs will be looking for back to back wins tomorrow night when they take on Wittenberg College at 7 p.m at Alumni Hall.

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