The last time the Ontario Tech Ridgebacks visited the Ravens’ Nest, it ended in heartbreak.
Last January, Ontario Tech’s Zubair Seyed silenced the Carleton crowd with a buzzer-beating bucket to hand the Ravens a 66-64 loss.
This season, it was Keon Baker.
Baker’s performance wasn’t highlighted by a single bucket after the buzzer, but by four quarters of multi-level scoring en route to a dominant 42-point performance.
As a result, the Carleton Ravens men’s basketball team were handed a 67-59 loss in front of the home crowd, snapping their win streak at eight games.
“We couldn’t stop their main guy, so it’s really frustrating,” Ravens head coach Taffe Charles said after the game. “Very disappointed in what kinda product we put out there tonight.”
On the heels of an 84-72 victory over the Queen’s Gaels on Friday night, the Ravens solidified their fourth-place ranking in all of U Sports heading into Saturday’s contest.
Facing an unranked Ridgebacks squad, who were defeated “pretty handily” last time, Charles said he believes the ranking partially explained the Ravens’ loss.
“Unfortunately, the way this world works is that if they were ranked four and we weren’t, we’d probably be better,” Charles said. “They came in with a lot of motivation — they had something to prove.”
The Ridgebacks proved their strength early with a quick 6-0 run thanks to two consecutive threes but were slowed to just three more field goals for the remainder of the quarter. The Ravens slowly clawed their way back into the contest, trailing by one after the opening frame.
Multiple stoppages ground the pace of play to a halt, stopping either team from scraping together any solid momentum. The low-scoring back-and-forth action saw the teams either deadlocked or with small leads before allowing the other to catch up.
The game of tag continued into the half, with the Ravens regaining a late three-point lead.
Forward Emanuel Milon continued to push the pace for the Ravens, challenging the Ridgebacks’ size and athleticism — a category the Ravens usually dominate. The veteran finished with 21 points in his fourth double-double of the season.
“When we start getting [defensive] stops, that’s when we start generating our offense,” Milon said. “That’s why our defensive game is such an important part to us.”
But stops were not coming for the Ravens in the latter half of the third quarter. Their offense scored five points in the remaining five minutes and quickly conceded their lead. The Ravens were held to 12 points in the quarter.
Unfortunately for the Ravens, the fourth quarter was not better.
The Ravens failed to capitalize on their late-game chances, plagued by costly turnovers and missed shots. The home squad was limited to 11 points, and held scoreless in the last three minutes — allowing the Ridgebacks to push the game out of reach.
Like the other three quarters, the Ravens could not contain Baker, who exploded for 12 of the Ridgebacks’ 14 points in the final frame.
“Sometimes we lose focus a little bit,” Milon said. “[Baker]’s a good player, so we got to do a better job on it.”
The Ravens played without starter Louth-Mohamed Coulibaly, who Charles said was sidelined with an undisclosed day-to-day injury. Charles noted that Coulibaly’s absence added stress on his bench.
“The problem with being down a starter is that we have to play the rookies more, and the rookies really struggled in a game like this,” Charles said.
Aubrey Dorey-Havens, who’s typically an X-Factor for the Ravens, posted a quiet performance. While he played crucial minutes and showcased his defensive talents, his offense was snakebitten, shooting one-for-eight for two points through 31 minutes.
“[Dorey-Havens] is playing a lot of minutes,” Charles said. “We need more people to contribute around him — you’re asking a lot for somebody to do that two nights in a row.”
The veteran guard leads the OUA in three pointers made and knocked down six threes in a 26 point outing the last time the two teams met.
The Ravens will look to re-enter the win column next weekend when they host the University of Toronto Varsity Blues (7-5) and TMU Bold (10-2). For Milon, limiting turnovers is key against a less gritty Varsity Blues and more athletic Bold.
“It starts with us on our own, working out, being solid, being sharp with our movements,” he said. “(We are) creating new habits and sticking with it, so it can trickle into the game.”
Declining to comment, Charles was tight-lipped about the game plan for the doubleheader on Friday at 8 p.m.
Featured image by Nathan Cox/the Charlatan
