For the third year in a row, the Carleton Ravens men’s basketball team is 4-0 to start the season.
The men picked up their fourth victory with a 95-66 spanking of the University of Windsor Lancers Nov. 19 at the Ravens’ Nest and an even stronger 96-43 victory over the University of Western Ontario Mustangs the previous night.
Third-year forward Tyson Hinz stood out for the Ravens against the Lancers, scoring a game-high 23 points, with 15 of them coming from three-point range.
Despite the big win, the Ravens didn’t take the Lancers, ranked No. 6 nationally, lightly.
“They rebound the ball well,” Hinz said. “So we knew coming in that we had to gain rebounds.”
As the top-ranked team in the Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS), it comes as no surprise that, despite handily defeating the Lancers, the team’s focus was still on how to improve.
The Ravens out-rebounded the Lancers 35-25, but Hinz said that wasn’t good enough.
“We still could’ve done a lot better of a job just getting bodies early,” Hinz said. “But it’s something we knew was going to happen in the game.”
Fellow third-year forward Kevin Churchill agreed, citing 6’8” Lancers forward Lien Phillip, who snagged a game-high 11 rebounds.
“Defensively, we’ve got to work on keeping certain guys off the glass,” Churchill said. “I think Phillip kind of killed us on the boards tonight. We’ve got to do a better job keeping guys like that off the glass.”
Offensively, the Ravens’ hot shooting was a key to their success. They shot 56.5 per cent compared to the Lancers’ 41.1 per cent.
“We shot it not bad, but you can’t just rely on shooting every game because it doesn’t always go like that,” Hinz said. “Some games you just can’t hit it and you’ve got to work on other things.”
Ravens head coach Dave Smart said he likes the team’s offensive chemistry, but said there’s still room for improvement in their end of the court.
“They’re distributing the ball, they’re sharing the basketball and they’re trusting each other on offence and I think that’s a positive,” he said. “Defensively, we’re playing hard but we’re making a lot of mistakes still.”
“We’re at our best when we get out in transition, and get something out of it,” Smart continued. “Over the course of 40 minutes, we can wear teams out playing only nine or 10 guys.”
The Ravens will be tested Nov. 25-26 in two away games against the Guelph Gryphons and Lakehead Thunderwolves.
The Thunderwolves were the only team to take a game off the Ravens last season, beating them 77-62 in the Ontario University Athletics final.
