Report by Andrew Simpson - Mustangs Athletics
LONDON, Ont. - The Western Mustangs came from 5 points down with just over one minute left to force overtime and hung on to beat the Ottawa Gee-Gees xx-xx on Saturday night at Alumni Hall.
A nice tribute to Doug Hayes, former coach, took place before the game. The game was reminiscent of the triple-overtime thriller that Hayes' team won an Ontario championship with. Donations were collected to support the Doug and Lauretta Hayes Scholarship Fund before the game.
Western is now 3-3 on the season. They will head on the road to Kingston next weekend to play RMC on Friday night and Queen's on Saturday night.
Andrew Wedemire was dominant in the second half scoring a game-high 23 points and adding 10 rebounds, none bigger than collecting an offensive board off his own foul-shot miss with 15 seconds left in overtime.
Quinn Henderson added 18 points with five assists.
Each team started slow shooting poor from the field. The Mustangs held a slim 15-12 lead after one quarter after Brett Lawrence drove end-to-end and hit a running jumper at the buzzer.
The low-scoring affair continued in the second quarter as both teams were playing good defence forcing the other team to take tough shots. Ottawa was up 27-26 at the half.
Both teams turned up the tempo in the third quarter and came out hitting from the field. Andy Wedemire scored the last 8 points for the Mustangs as they took the lead 50-47 entering the final frame.
Ottawa and Western traded baskets throughout the frame with a Louis Gauthier dunk making it a five point Ottawa lead with 1:19 left at 61-56. Western would battle back, getting to the foul line to make it 61-60 Ottawa with 33 seconds left. After a foul shot with 5 seconds left made it 62-60 Ottawa, the Mustangs would score on the final buzzer as Wedemire tipped it in to force overtime.
The Mustangs took the lead in overtime playing tight defence and Ottawa could never hold on as each team traded foul shots in the final few minutes.
