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The Guelph men's basketball team looked like they were about to change their luck at home against the Western Mustangs. Ryan Barbeau had other plans. Barbeau led the Mustangs to a thrilling 68-65 victory Wednesday night in front of a packed Mitchell Centre.
The Gryphons drop to 3-8 while the Mustangs improve to 7-4, moving into a tie for third place in the OUA West.
Andrew Wedemire (Sarnia, Ont.) lead all scorers with 22 points, but it was Barbeau's three-pointer with under a minute to play that put the Mustangs ahead for good. Barbeau also had 20 points on the night.
The Gryphons were led by Jonathan Moscatelli (Toronto), who had 19 points to go along with 10 rebounds. Dan McCarthy (Guelph, Ont.) and Michael Petrella (Brantford, Ont.) added 12 and 10 points respectively.
Guelph stormed out of the gates to begin the game, taking an early advantage as Western struggled from the floor. The two teams would end the first tied at 15.
Guelph took control in the second quarter, with Moscatelli leading the way. Guelph took good shots while forcing the Mustangs into poor scoring opportunities, outscoring Western 20-12 in the quarter and taking a 35-27 halftime lead. Guelph shot an impressive 50% from the field in the first half.
The Mustangs refused to let this one end early, and started the second half strong, outscoring the Gryphons 26-16. Wedemire and Barbeau led an otherwise quiet Western squad to a 53-51 edge, setting up the exciting conclusion.
Trailing 62-60 with two and a half minutes remaining, Western's shooting woes continued, with three misses on one possession and struggles at the free-throw line. Jason Milliquet (Sarnia, Ont.) tied the game with just over 1:30 left, as Guelph's Adam Bering (Tecumseh, Ont.) could not get close with four personal fouls.
Jonathan Moscatelli scored two points to give Guelph the lead again at 64-62 with just a minute left, but Barbeau's trey gave Western a 65-64 lead with 37 seconds, forcing the Gryphons to take their final timeout but couldn't manage to score.
Following that possession, with 20 seconds left, Guelph surged up the court, and Wedemire looked to have made another key block, this time on Petrella, but he was deemed to have made contact. Petrella scored one at the line to pull Guelph within one point, trailing 66-65.
Milliquet was fouled on the inbounds after a Western timeout and scored both of his free-throw attempts, extending the lead to three points at 68-65
Guelph was able to get solid contributions off the bench, with Nick Walters scoring seven points and Cory Shody playing impressive defence and grabbing loose balls. Many of the Guelph players struggled with foul trouble throughout the game.
The Gryphons will hope to get back to their winning ways when the Waterloo Warriors visit this Saturday, January 16th. Tipoff is scheduled for 3pm.
- Source: Gryphon Sports info, Dannie Haynes with files from Western -
