Box Score
  <%--Mens Basketball vs. Western 2014 Gallery--%>

Western 84, Guelph 79 
 
Guelph, Ont. – (January 8, 2014) – The Guelph Gryphons men's basketball team were defeated by the visiting Western Mustangs 84-79 on Wednesday night at the W.F. Mitchell Centre. The Gryphons fall to 2-9 on the season while the Mustangs advance to 3-8.
  Guelph's Zachary Angus led his team with 16 points and eight rebounds. Taylor Boers also chipped in with 14 points and three rebounds.
 
Western's Greg Morrow led all scorers with 28 points and 10 rebounds.
 
The Gryphons opened the first quarter with a ton of energy, pushing the pace of the game. Andrew Grant had a massive block on the defensive side of the ball and then went coast to coast for the lay in to finish the play off himself. Shortly thereafter Taylor Boers nailed a corner three to give the Gryphon's the early 11-4 lead. The Gryphon's energetic play persisted throughout the first as they consistently battled for rebounds and had players ready to finish plays off. With under a minute left in the quarter Michel Clark extended the Gryphon lead to eight with a long three-pointer, giving Guelph an 18-10 lead after the first.
 
A 10-3 Western run to open the second tied the score up at 20 with just over six minutes to play. The energy that the Gryphons displayed in the first quarter seemed to disappear entirely in the second. Western went on another run, this time 10-5, to give them a five point second quarter lead after trailing by eight at the end of the first. A few careless mistakes and an inability to get to the free throw line ultimately was Guelph's undoing in the second quarter. The Gryphon's went into the halftime break hoping to regroup, down 37-28.
 
Both teams exchanged points to start the third quarter, including back-to-back three pointers from the Gryphon's. Despite this though, the Mustangs maintained their 9-point advantage, 47-38. Although the growing pains of having a young roster sometimes appeared, Guelph still displayed signs of growth, particularly on an and-one play by Adam Kemp to finish off the third quarter. Guelph improved on their first half field goal percentage, shooting 56% in the third. However they still trailed the Mustangs 58-52 heading into the final quarter.
 
A 6-2 Gryphon run pulled them to within two points with 7:55 remaining in the fourth, forcing the Mustangs to take an early fourth quarter timeout. Both sides played with a more aggressive flare in the fourth. Down by eight points with 4:30 left to play, the Gryphon's did their best to mount a comeback. Zach Angus drew a foul with 2:27 left to play, hitting one of two. However, the large deficit and the ticking clock forced the Gryphon's into playing aggressive defense, sometimes leaving open shots for the Mustangs to capitalize on. Daniel Dooley and Zach Angus hit back to back three-pointers to make it a 3-point game, 74-71, with under a minute on the clock. Western's Greg Morrow came right down the floor and notched a mid-range jumper to increase the Mustang lead to five. After drawing a foul Zach Angus hit both his free throws to once again make it a 3-point game. The clock forced the Gryphon's to take fouls, allowing the Mustangs to convert on their free throws and increase their lead. In the end the Gryphon's could not overtake the Mustangs, as they dropped the game 84-79.
 
Guelph tips off again at home on Saturday at 3:00 pm against the Brock Badgers.