Around this time last year, the Carleton Ravens men’s basketball head coach Taffe Charles already knew his team’s fate for the season ahead.
“We’re not going to win this year,” he said on Nov. 17, 2023, after a 69-63 win over the Brock Badgers. “I’ve been doing this for a long time, I’ve seen all those championships up there, I know what it takes; we’re just too young.”
Following Charles’s prediction, the Ravens failed to qualify for the U Sports national championship for the first time in 22 years.
But after two convincing wins to start the season, this year might be different.
The Carleton Ravens men’s basketball team captured their first win of the season over the Western Mustangs by a dominant 97-75 score on Oct. 25, followed by a toppling 96-66 win over the Windsor Lancers the next day.
“Last year we just played. This year, we are trying to learn how to win,” he said.
New beginnings: 97-75 win over Western
In the Ravens’ home opener at the Ravens’ Nest, the two teams were evenly matched from the start, but Carleton made their defensive presence known early. They allowed the Mustangs no breathing room, stymying their offence.
At the other end of the court, the Ravens found success crashing the boards. Carleton converted 21 points off second-chance opportunities throughout the game. In contrast, the Mustangs only scored three points on rebounds.
Nonetheless, Western mounted a strong offensive response throughout the opening frame and Carleton was only able to scrape away with a 22-20 lead at the end of the first quarter.
The tightly contested play continued into the second quarter, with neither team able to build a substantial lead. The Ravens’ lack of discipline held them back as they were booked for six fouls in the second quarter alone. The Mustangs were able to capitalize on the Ravens’ defensive woes, as they took the lead with nine minutes to go in the quarter.
Building off this momentum, Western was able to increase their lead to nine points with around three minutes to go in the half. Charles was highly critical of the Ravens’ defensive lapses in judgment.
“First half, we didn’t play well defensively… We didn’t play well defensively all game,” Charles said.
But Western’s lead was cut short as Carleton clawed themselves back into the fray. They tied the game at 40 points with 57 seconds left in the second quarter.
Ravens guard Daniel Smith stepped up to help Carleton pull away from their visitors before the buzzer. Smith hit two back-to-back corner threes to sway the momentum in the Ravens’ favour and close out the first half on top by a 46-42 score. Smith ended the game with 15 points, all of which came from beyond the arc.
“Dan really helped us out,” Charles said. “It’s nice to get a good performance from somebody else other than our main guys so when the next guy, or a guy who is not a main guy, makes a couple shots, it makes it a lot easier for everybody else.”
Going into the second half, the Ravens were firing on all cylinders, exploding for 31 points in the third quarter alone and scoring 50 per cent of their attempts from the field. This offensive surge helped extend their lead by 19 points heading into the final frame.
The third-quarter charge was led by forward Emanuel Milon, who chipped in eight points, two rebounds and a block. He finished the game with 20 points, 12 rebounds, two blocks, and shot an efficient 9-for-11 from the field.
“I really appreciate that he tried to get better. He was literally here all summer trying to improve,” Charles said. “I want to reward people who want to get better, and he really spent a lot of time, so he was a leader by just being here.”
The Ravens continued to dominate in the fourth quarter, where they extended their lead to a game-high 25 points. The Mustangs had no answer for the offensive downpour.
As the Ravens captured their first win of the season, Milon said he wants to instill a relentless mentality into the team’s rookies.
“Every possession, we just gotta kill, even on defence,” Milon said. “Everybody can be good on the first day, but it’s the 100th day that matters.”
The Ravens are set to carry their 2-0 record on the road to their next matchup against the Waterloo Warriors on Nov. 1.
Featured photo by Marc Lafleur / Carleton Ravens
