The 10-time national title-winning Carleton Ravens men’s basketball team will kick off its regular season Nov. 7 at home against the Brock Badgers.
Since winning their 10th national championship in 12 years last season, the Ravens have continued their streak, with seven wins and one loss so far in exhibition play.
The Ravens have one tournament left in the pre-season and a game at Syracuse to cap off their exhibition play against National Collegiate Athletic Association and other Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) teams.
Earlier this month, the Ravens won the Guy Vetrie Memorial tournament in Victoria, B.C., beating out Bishop’s University, the University of Victoria, and University of Alberta.
As part of Carleton’s Throwback weekend, the Ravens will be hosting the House Laughton tournament Oct. 17-19, playing against Acadia University, the University of Waterloo, and the Université de Laval.
This season marks the first time in five years that the Ravens will be playing without former forward and leader Tyson Hinz, who led them to four straight national championships.
“We can’t replace him, so everyone will have to step up and play a little bit more than they’re used to so we can do our best to win,” Ravens forward Thomas Scrubb said.
On top of Hinz, the Ravens will also be without forward Kevin Churchill and guard Clinton Springer-Williams, while preparing for the departure of Thomas and Philip Scrubb at the end of this season.
“We want to win another championship,” Thomas Scrubb said. “We’re still going to try to be as good as last year.”
The Scrubb brothers have been key to the Ravens’ wins over the last five years. Philip Scrubb has consistently been one of the Ravens’ top scorers and players overall.
With Hinz gone, other players will be stepping in to help lead the Ravens to victory.
“A lot of new guys are going to be playing, like Connor Wood, Jean-Emmanuel Pierre-Charles, and Mitch Wood,” Thomas Scrubb said. “In terms of scoring, Connor is one guy who will have be working harder offensively.”
Last season, the Ravens beat out the University of Ottawa (U of O) Gee-Gees to win the national championship. This was the final match-up of a season-long rivalry.
The two teams will come head-to-head again Jan. 10 at U of O and will have the chance at a rematch just a few weeks later at the Capital Hoops Classic on Feb. 6.
“We lost some key players, so we have a little bit less experience than they do,” Scrubb said. “We’ll have to play at a higher speed and play tough on defence, and we should be able to beat them if it all comes together.”
As the Ravens gear up for what could be their fifth consecutive national title and 11th championship total, the players are focusing on practicing hard and getting back into shape, according to Scrubb.
“We haven’t been as good as a rebounding team, so we’ll have to improve on that,” he said. “We aren’t playing through the post as much, we’re more guard-oriented, and we’re packing from the three-point line. We’re going to have to work on our transitions and playing tougher.”
The men’s basketball team will be preparing to play McMaster University Nov. 8 and Ryerson University Nov. 29, who Scrubb said are two challenging teams.
“It will be good to see where we’re at when we play them,” he said.
