The Carleton Ravens men’s basketball team had their closest game of the season in a 75-51 victory against the Algoma Thunderbirds.
It was the annual Ravens Pink Game, and the crowd was filled with bright pink scarves. The decorated crowd was stunned when the Ravens found themselves down 19-15 to Algoma after the first quarter, led by shooting guard Sean Clendinning, who scored nine points in the first quarter.
The Thunderbirds ran their offence well and made some tough shots, while the Ravens could not buy a bucket to start the game.
After a pair of three-pointers by point guard Kaza Kajami-Keane to put the Ravens up 28-22, it seemed as if they were gaining momentum.
The Thunderbirds stayed close, with Carleton forward Ryan Ejim getting into foul trouble early in the second quarter.
The Ravens closed out the half up 38-30, but the team looked unhappy with their performance as they went to the locker room.
“It’s hard to get in a rhythm offensively if you don’t get stops and rebounds—that’s what our whole game is based on,” Ravens head coach Rob Smart said after the game.
Algoma came out of the break on a 7-0 run, and the Ravens could not pull away. The teams traded buckets, with Kajami-Keane and forward Guillaume Payen Boucard leading the Ravens’ offence.
The Ravens ended the third quarter up by only four points, by far their closest margin of the year.
“We didn’t play the best defence we could have all game,” Kajami-Keane said. “I feel like we were not completely focused coming in.”
The Ravens came clutch in the fourth quarter with some timely defence and offensive rebounding, limiting the Thunderbirds to just five points. Forwards Payen Boucard and Cameron Smythe scored seven and eight points respectively in the final quarter to help close out the game.
The Ravens closed the game well and overcame their first scare of the season. Payen Boucard led in scoring with 16 points and eight rebounds, and Kajami-Keane added 15 points, seven assists, and five rebounds. Payen Boucard was awarded Player of the Game.
“None of us are go-to, superstar guys,” Kajami-Keane said. “We just gotta all work together—feed the hot hand.”
The Ravens may have won the game, but Smart was visibly displeased with his team’s performance.
“We gotta get our focus where it needs to be,” he said. “If you’re going to expect to just show up and not play as hard as you possibly can, this is what’s going to happen.”
Looking forward, Smart said his team needs to work on one thing for next week: “Just playing hard for 40 minutes.”
The Ravens are 5-0 to start the season, and they host a double-header against Western University on Friday, Nov. 27 and Windsor on Nov. 28.
