GUELPH, Ont. – The Gryphons men's basketball team officially tipped off the 2026 portion of their regular season schedule with a pair of home games on Friday, Jan. 10 and Saturday, Jan. 11. On Friday night, the Gryphons went toe-to-toe with the No. 3-ranked team in the country in the Western Mustangs, but fell just short in the end with Western escaping Guelph with a 90-82 win. On Saturday night (Jan. 11), the Gryphons came up with one of the most important wins of their season, defeating the Windsor Lancers, 91-79.
Friday, Jan. 9, 2026 | No. 3-ranked Mustangs pull away in second half to escape Guelph with 90-82 victory
The first game of the new year for the Gryphons saw them welcome the No. 3-ranked team in the country to the Guelph Gryphons Athletics Centre in the form of the 11-1 Western Mustangs. The Gryphons matched the top-ranked team in Ontario point-for-point early on, with the two teams tied at 44-44 at the half. Western would outscore Guelph, 29-22, in the 3rd quarter to take a 7-point lead to the final quarter. The Gryphons trimmed the deficit to 4 with two minutes remaining, but that would be as close as Guelph would get, as the Mustangs would close it out from there. The Gryphons got a spark off the bench from third-year guard,
Raef Wykes (Portland, ON), who poured in 21 points while going 5-10 from beyond the arc. Gryphons fourth-year forward,
Eric Armstrong (New Hamburg, ON), led all U of G scorers with 22 points to go along with 6 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 blocks. The loss to Western Friday night dropped Guelph's record to 6-7, while the Mustangs improved to 12-1.
Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026 | Gryphons beat Lancers, 91-79, behind career-high 33 points from Eric Armstrong
On Saturday night in Guelph, the Gryphons (6-7) welcomed the Windsor Lancers (6-6) to the Guelph Gryphons Athletics Centre, in a game chalked full of playoff implications. Gryphons fourth-year forward
Eric Armstrong put together perhaps the best game of his standout Gryphon career, with the New Hamburg, Ontario native pouring in a career-high 33 points on the night, with 21 of those coming in the opening half. Armstrong's 33 points came on an efficient 12-18 shooting from the field, including 4-6 from beyond the arc and 5-5 from the free throw line. He added a team-high 8 rebounds to go along with 3 assists and 2 blocks. As a team, the Gryphons knocked down 15 three-pointers on the night, with
Jack Tunstill,
Vito Albanese and
Amare Hamilton all connecting three times from beyond the arc. With the win on Saturday night over the Lancers, Guelph improved to 7-7 on the season, while the Lancers fell to 6-7.
Next up for the Gryphons (7-7) is a pair of important road games against teams with similar records battling for a spot in the OUA playoffs. The Gryphons road trip begins with a Friday, January 16 trip to Kingston to face the Queen's Gaels (6-7), followed by a Saturday night (Jan. 17) trip to Oshawa to face the Ontario Tech Ridgebacks (6-7). The Gryphons have eight games remaining in their 22-game 2025-26 regular season schedule, with five of their final eight games coming on the road.
