In the dreary, dimly-lit concrete basement of uOttawa’s Montpetit Hall, Grant Shephard stepped one foot, then another, to the free-throw line. As he bounced the basketball one, two, three times on the maroon floorboard, the chants from the narrow sidelines grew.
“Can he shoot that?” the uOttawa Gee-Gees faithful repeated rhythmically. “Can he shoot that?”
Shephard could shoot that. He shot the first free throw, bounced the ball three more times and missed the second. Forward Lloyd Pandi grabbed the rebound, lying face down on the plywood and clenching the ball. With just under 10 seconds left in the game, a small collective of Carleton fans cheered in an otherwise silent arena.
The Carleton Ravens men’s basketball team was going home undefeated. Again.
For the second time in two weeks, Carleton defeated their cross-town rivals in a battle between two of Canada’s top three teams, this time resulting in a 64-59 win. The Ravens achieved the result without Alain Louis, who scored 17 points against uOttawa on Feb. 18 but suffered an upper-body injury on Feb. 24 and has now missed three consecutive games.
The win improves the Ravens’ record to 12-0 on the season as they remain one of only three teams in the country with a perfect record.
The final score isn’t representative of the first quarter. Carleton forced one shot clock violation, then another, within the first two minutes. Guard Aiden Warnholtz dropped one three, then forward Biniam Ghebrekidan dropped another.
The Gee-Gees went nearly seven minutes before their first points of the game. The quarter ended 17-4—the fewest points allowed by Carleton in a single quarter this season, all without Louis and against the nation’s third-ranked team.
“They didn’t start really well. They were trying to fight for answers,” Carleton head coach Taffe Charles said.
The Gee-Gees found the answers in the second frame. The energy of the capacity crowd built with each uOttawa bucket and was loudest after centre Marlon Kordrostami’s jump shot with 54 seconds left made the score 30-28.
Each bucket chipped away at Carleton’s momentum.
“[It was] probably the best crowd we’ve had all year … It’s easy to get up for these games,” Charles said. “We couldn’t pull away. That was kind of frustrating.”
A newly equalized matchup, the third quarter became a battle between the teams. When Carleton appeared to pull away—guard Cordell Viera’s jump shot at 4:35 made the score 44-35—uOttawa clawed its way back.
It set the stage for a heart-pounding, nail-biting, ear-piercing fourth quarter. The Ravens went up by as much as nine points; with 10.7 seconds left on the clock, it was back to a two-point game.
That set the stage for Shephard’s free throws and the crowd’s taunt. Yes, he can shoot it.
“[We’re] happy with the result [but] can’t be satisfied with how we played,” Charles said, adding that Carleton will likely have to play uOttawa again in the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) playoffs. “They’re gonna be better and we gotta be better too.”
The Ravens now have a 10-day break before their final two games of the season against the Queen’s University Gaels on March 11 and 12.
It’s the team’s last extended break before a taxing stretch of OUA playoff games, which run from March 16 to 26, and the U Sports national championship in Edmonton, Alta., from April 1 to 3. If the Ravens make it to the gold medal game, they’ll have played seven games in 19 days.
Charles will use the break to recruit for the team, which has already begun announcing commitments for next season. The Ravens—especially Louis—will also take the time to get healthy.
“If there’s any kind of question about [Louis’ health], you know what, we gotta shut him down,” Charles said. “We need him at the end of this.”
Featured image by Isaac Phan Nay.
