The Carleton Ravens men’s basketball team crushed the Nipissing Lakers 97-53 on Feb. 21 in the Scrubb brothers’ last regular season game at Carleton.
After a ceremony for the players moving on after their final year presented by Ravens head coach Dave Smart, Phil Scrubb put on a show, scoring 27 points in the first half to give Carleton an insurmountable lead early on.
“This year, we’ve had some ups and downs on the road, but we’ve been pretty good at home. It’s always great coming back here to play,” he said. “Obviously it’s nice to hear the coach saying those things, but we still had a game to play and we were focusing on that.”
His brother Thomas scored six points in the game and was a strong force on the floor.
Both players, alongside injured guard Victor Raso, are in their fifth and final year at Carleton.
Carleton (17-2) never seemed troubled by Nipissing, who finished the season with no wins at 0-19.
Despite the lopsided score, the Ravens still gave their fans something to cheer about.
Jean-Emmanuel Pierre-Charles had a huge block late in the third quarter, and Guillaume Boucard made a two-handed dunk in the fourth.
Connor Wood also sank an impressive spinning fade-away, two of his 17 points in the game.
The Lakers could find no solution for Phil Scrubb, who scored six consecutive three-pointers, racking up 19 points in the first quarter alone.
Smart praised Scrubb, reigning Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) male athlete of the year, in the opening ceremony.
“Phil is the best. He’s the best talent we’ve ever had in this program,” he said.
The coach had kind words for Thomas Scrubb as well.
“Thomas is smarter than everyone else. He understands what needs to be done—he’s polite with the coaches,” Smart said. “When we tell him to do something he does it, and when we get to the game he does the right thing.”
Raso has been a prominent member of the Ravens since transferring from McMaster as well, though his production in the season has been limited to due to an injury sustained before the Capital Hoops Classic on Feb. 6.
“In the last two years, and certainly this year, he has been one of the mainstays in keeping the culture where we want our culture to be,” Smart said.
“That’s not easy. He’s only been here for two years and any one of these guys would vouch for how hard he’s worked for our team.”
Smart used the second half to give some of his younger players some time on the court after the Ravens built the big lead early.
Cameron Smythe, Mitchell Wood, and Mitch Jackson all saw significant playing time in the half.
With the regular season completed, Carleton looks to the playoffs, and a chance to win their fifth consecutive CIS championship.
First, they have to get through the winner of the Guelph Gryphons and Lakehead Thunderwolves match-up in the first round of the Ontario University Athletics playoffs, where they will host a game Feb. 28.
Despite their strong play, Phil Scrubb said the Ravens still have room to improve.
“We’ve got to get better offensively, in terms of getting on the same page and making sure we know where each other are in terms of spacing, and then not back down, because it’s going to get more physical from here on out,” he said.
aid.
