Just over the halfway point of the 2016-17 Ontario University Athletics (OUA) men’s basketball season, the Carleton Ravens currently stand undefeated with a 14-0 record and are first place in the OUA North division.
Carleton started the season with a 93-65 win over the Algoma Thunderbirds on Nov. 18 and have kept up their relentless pace, with their most recent wins coming against the Windsor Lancers by a score of 104-54 and the Western Mustangs by a score of 82-60.
Carleton’s defence has been the key to their success, averaging 60.5 points against per game—the lowest in U SPORTS this season.
“I feel like a lot of our strength comes on defence so we have to make sure our defence is super strong,” said Ravens guard Connor Wood.
“I’d like for us to be strong rebounding,” he said. “We’ve been pretty good on rebounding so far so hopefully we can keep getting strong on the boards.”
Wood has led the Ravens in scoring, averaging over 20 points per game, which has him ranking as one of the top OUA scorers. He is also scoring on 50 per cent of his three-point shots.
Wood said he credits much of his individual success to the play of his teammates.
“[O]bviously my teammates are setting me up for a lot of [shots] in the game,” he said. “I’m getting some good looks because of my teammates are causing close outs and creating stuff for me which helps.”
With five games remaining in the regular season, the Ravens have an opportunity to complete a perfect season. Despite the chance to go undefeated, Wood said he is focused on the bigger picture and winning in the playoffs.
“I don’t feel like it’s that much on a perfect season, it’s more on trying to win at the end,” he said. “If we lose one game, obviously it’s a big deal and we’re going to have to change stuff about it, but it’s not the end of the world.”
“[W]e need to make sure we don’t lose when it actually matters,” he said.
The last time Carleton went undefeated was the 2013-14 season. That year, they won 22 straight and took home the Canadian Interuniversity Sport (now U SPORTS) men’s basketball championship.
Carleton has won six consecutive national titles, and has claimed 12 out of 14 championships dating back to 2002-03 season.
– File photo
