LONDON, Ont. - The No. 10 TMU Bold men's basketball team outlasted the No. 8 Western Mustangs on Saturday night, using a strong first half performance to guide them to a 100-92 victory.

Outside of the opening basket of the game, the Bold led from wire to wire in this one and built a 26-15 lead after 10 minutes. The lead grew to as many as 21 which stood as the halftime difference with TMU heading to the break up 57-36.

While the Bold dominated the glass in the first half, out-rebounding Western 21-10 at the break, the Mustangs defence stepped it up to open the second half.

The Mustangs started the third quarter on a 9-2 run, forcing an early TMU timeout, and the home side continued to chip away at the double digit deficit. Western whiddled the lead all the way down to just four points at 62-58 with 4:05 to go in the third quarter, but they could never erase the deficit entirely.

Michael Kayembe gave the Bold a spark late in the third, nailing a three-pointer to extend the lead back to 10 points with two minutes to go in the quarter, before adding a baseline jumper and a defensive steal turned into a dunk. When all was said and done at the end of the third, the Bold had restored their lead to 77-61.

Both teams traded momentum in the fourth, but TMU's lead was never in jeopardy and the visitors saw their efforts turn into a 100-92 victory.

Aaron Rhooms led the charge with 32 points while David Walker added 21 points in the win.

The Bold will now gear up for another Top 10 battle as they host the Queen's Gaels on Friday, January 19 at TMU's Winter Homecoming game.