The No. 3 Brock men's basketball team opened the OUA playoffs with a 87-83 victory over the No. 6 Lakehead Thunderwolves at Bob Davis Gymnasium on Wednesday.

The Badgers advance to the quarter-finals where they will faceoff against the No. 2 Western Mustangs in London, Ontario on Saturday, Feb. 23 at 2 p.m.

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"It was a back-and-forth game. I didn't think any team had total control throughout the game," said Madhav Trivedi, who earned his first playoff win as Brock's head coach. "I credit our guys for coming up with big plays down the stretch when Lakehead made their run. They are a better team than what their record shows."

The Badgers held a 49-44 lead at halftime.

"This wasn't an easy victory. Even when we were up by 10 points, if we made a bad shot they came down the court and made us pay," added Trivedi. "There was a lot of resilience and toughness for pulling out this win."

In the fourth quarter, the Badgers maintained a 71-65 lead. Brock hit important shots and came up with stellar stops despite the 'Wolves outscoring the Badgers 18-16 in the final quarter.

"We've been in a lot of situations where we haven't come out on the right side of things, so for our guys to win during this time of the year is what every coach wants," said Trivedi.

Badgers shooting guard Johneil Simpson scored 23 points, added six rebounds, two steals and two blocks. Simpson went nine-for-15 and made five three-pointers on nine attempts.

Forward Cassidy Ryan scored a team-high 26 points and collected nine rebounds. Daniel Cayer secured 11 rebounds and six assists.

Kascius Small-Martin scored 13 points and Tyler Brown netted 11.

For Lakehead, Isaiah Taylor led the Thunderwolves with 32 points and Lock Lam locked up 11 rebounds.