The Windsor Lancers battled hard Wednesday night but couldn't overcome a slow start, dropping their season opener to the Western Mustangs at home, 76-73.
 
The Lancers looked a little rusty to start but got themselves back into the game with a monster third quarter. Unfortunately, the Mustangs made a few more winning plays at the end escaping with a close one and dropping the Lancers to 0-1 on the season.
 
GAME STATS
Western's Julian Walker led all players in points and rebounds with 21 on 9-16 shooting, and 16 rebounds. The Lancers were led on offense by Thomas Kennedy and his 16 points on 7-13 shooting. Kennedy put up a double-double adding 10 rebounds in the game.
 
Freshman Shakael Pryce scored 12 points to accompany his 10 assists, while Eriq Jenkins was the Mustangs leading passer with four.
 
GAME FLOW
Late in the first quarter the Lancers started and shrunk what was a six point for the Mustangs lead to two (18-16) as the first quarter buzzer sounded. The Lancer defense did a nice job holding the Mustangs to respectable numbers, however what the blue and gold really struggled with was going 0-10 from deep. Despite the shooting woes, the Lancers played their way back into the game late in the half, going into the break down 34-27.
 
The third quarter was all Lancers as the blue and gold came out of the locker room with energy and a renewed focus. Windsor improved their defensive intensity and found some rhythm on offense, shooting 40 per cent from range in the third quarter. Heading into the fourth the Lancers took a 52-51 lead. 
 
The fourth quarter was tightly contested as the Mustangs put themselves back out front and tried to hang on for the win. Chris Poloniato made a late three to make it a one possession game with less than a minute to play. The Lancers had the ball for the last play, however, Pryce's shot came up short off the rim, giving the Mustangs the 76-73 win to open the season.
 
UP NEXT
Windsor will host the Laurier Golden Hawks at the Dennis Fairall Fieldhouse on Saturday, October 26th at 8:00 pm. You can tune in live at www.OUA.tv or get your tickets at www.goLancers.ca/tickets