Six and a half months ago, the Carleton Ravens men’s basketball team arrived at Saville Community Sports Centre in Edmonton, Alta., for the U Sports national championship.
The Ravens made a statement in the quarterfinals, handily defeating the Canada West champions, the University of Victoria Vikes. The Ravens went on to win the national championship, as they so often do.
The Ravens faced Victoria once again on Sunday in the finale of the House-Laughton pre-season tournament, defeating the Vikes 88-80 in an overtime thriller. But the matchup was dramatically different from the game that took place in Edmonton in April.
Leading by 16 points with nine minutes left in the second quarter, the Ravens were positioned to coast to an easy win. The Vikes, who led the nation in three-point shooting percentage last season, went 1-for-9 from deep in the first quarter.
But Victoria quickly turned the game on its head. In the span of little more than a minute, the Vikes hit three three-pointers. By the end of the second quarter, Victoria trailed by only two points.
“Even before the game started, we knew they were gonna come with a chip on their shoulder, because of what we did to them last year in the final eight,” Carleton guard Wazir Latiff said. “We kind of let our bench come in and they really weren’t expecting [the Vikes] to keep fighting. They expected them to just lay down and let it happen.”
The 16-point lead evaporated in a span of nine minutes when Victoria took the lead in the third quarter on a three-pointer from guard Diego Maffia. When Maffia made a jump shot with just over a minute left in the frame, the Vikes led by 14 points.
Then it was Carleton’s turn to rewrite the story.
The Ravens spent most of the pre-season embarrassed by NCAA competition. In August, Carleton lost by the worst deficit in program history and gave up more than 100 points for the first time in nearly a decade, all in the span of one week.
During the off-season, the Ravens lost both U Sports Player of the Year Lloyd Pandi and 2022 championship MVP Alain Louis, who turned pro. The next players up—like forward Elliot Bailey and veteran Grant Shephard—were injured or ineligible. Inexperience reared its head.
It’s been nearly two months since Carleton’s disappointing NCAA swing and on Sunday, the benefit of extra time in the system for younger players showed. Carleton clawed its way back in the fourth quarter, with first-year starter Latiff and guard Aiden Warnholtz scoring nine points each.
At the buzzer, a three-point attempt from Warnholtz bounced off the rim and out. He hunched over, clenched his fists and screamed in frustration, but it didn’t matter—the game was still tied 75-75. The Ravens were headed to overtime.
In the five extra minutes, Carleton dominated. The Ravens outscored Victoria 13-5 on their way to the biggest win of the pre-season.
“I didn’t think we had a chance to win it, to be honest with you. We just kept fighting and fighting,” Carleton head coach Taffe Charles said. “Some of the guys have been around … Just based on what we’ve done in the past, they know how to play hard, they know how to win games, they know what it takes to stop people, so I think they just dug down deep and got it done.”
The win is a stark contrast to the frustrations of inexperience that plagued the team just two months ago.
“[It was a] tough go during the summer,” Charles said. “We worked pretty hard in September, got some things down pat … We’re a better team defensively.”
Earlier in the weekend, the Ravens also beat the Concordia Stingers 81-56 and the McMaster Marauders 78-67.
The Ravens have only a few weeks before the regular season tips off Nov. 4 against the York University Lions. In the meantime, they’ll travel south of the border to play scrimmages against Northeastern University, Boston University and Colgate University.
Without a result to play for, Charles said every eligible player will get minutes. He’ll use the opportunity to help find the starting five, which is still up in the air, although pre-season lineups indicate that Warnholtz, Latiff, Shephard and Connor Vreeken will all be starting.
The Ravens will return home for a final pre-season game against the McGill Redbirds on Oct. 29. Then, the quest for Carleton’s 17th championship in the last 20 seasons will begin on Nov. 4 at Raven’s Nest.
Featured Image by Spencer Colby.
