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Mustangs lose their fifth straight to Gryphons

January 17, 2012
By Daniel Bottner

Still unable to pick up a win in the new year, the Mustangs men’s basketball team dropped their third straight game, this time, to the Guelph Gryphons. Playing in the friendly confines of Alumni Hall, the Mustangs fell 82-66, dropping their record to 3-8 on the season.

A three-pointer by the Mustangs’ Ryan Higgins followed by a charge taken by Charlie Drouin highlighted a first quarter that saw the Mustangs down by only one. From that point on, the Mustangs had few positive moments as the Gryphons took control, starting the second quarter on an 8-2 run as they finished the half up by eight.

The Mustangs had a tough time finding an answer for the accurate shooting of Gryphon guards Kareem Malcolm and Daniel McCarthy. The two combined for 44 points and seemed nearly unstoppable from the field at points.

“Kareem and Daniel are all-star calibre players in our league,” Brad Campbell, Mustangs head coach, said of the Guelph guards. “If you want to have a chance to beat Guelph, you’re going to have to try and limit one of those two at least […] we did neither tonight,” coach Campbell said, acknowledging their strong play.

The Gryphons picked up right where they left off to start the third quarter as they slowly built on their first half lead. Despite a strong third quarter from the Gryphons, the Mustangs were able to trim the deficit from 15 to 10 points going into the fourth.

One bright spot for the Mustangs came from the country’s second leading scorer Ryan Barbeau, who shot 11 of 23 from the field for 31 points.

Gryphon coach Chris O’Rourke had nothing but praise for Western’s star player.

“Ryan’s a high calibre player and he’s certainly a tough match-up,” O’Rourke said of the fifth-year point guard. “We tried guarding him with a few different guys, we tried getting the ball out of his hands […] It’s more just trying to limit him than really stop him.”

Unfortunately, Barbeau did not receive much help as none of his teammates were able to score in double digits.

“We got 31 points from him, but we need other people to step up and score,” Campbell said. “A big problem for us was when Peter Scholtes picked up his second foul early in the second quarter. He’s our second [scoring] option and someone who we need to score.”

Scholtes averages around 17 points per game, but only contributed seven points versus Guelph. His foul trouble severely weakened the Mustangs’ offensive attack as he had four fouls going into the fourth quarter and subsequently fouled out with around six minutes to go.

Western’s inability to get defensive stops at opportune times plagued them for most of the game. Of particular note, the Gryphons out rebounded the Mustangs by 15 and grabbed 17 offensive rebounds compared to Western’s six.

Mustang forward and second-year player, Nathan DiLoreto, pinpointed the issues surrounding his team’s rebounding woes.

“We just didn’t want it on the glass. Guelph came out and wanted it more than us,” DiLoreto said. “We didn’t box out, so it was difficult for us to win with that type of rebounding effort.”

“Rebounding has been a focus for us,” O’Rourke added. “Especially when we’re not shooting the ball well, it’s important for us to emphasize every day. Today was a positive for us in that domain.”

The Mustangs will take this game as a learning experience as they look forward to improving on their disappointing record.

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