The Ravens pushed aside the Huskies on Oct. 18 in the final game of the House Laughton Tournament (Photo: Adam Dietrich)

The Carleton Ravens men’s basketball team finished first for the ninth consecutive year in the 20th annual House Laughton Tournament held Oct. 16-18 at the Ravens’ Nest.

On the opening day of the tournament, Carleton honoured the 1959 Raven’s team who were the Ottawa-Saint Lawrence Intercollegiate Athletic Association (OSLIAA) champions.

Fifty years later and the Ravens are still one of, if not the best, basketball team in Canada.

In their first game of the tournament on Oct. 16, the Ravens easily handled Bishop University, finishing with a dominating 104-51 win. 

The game started off slow with the Ravens finding themselves behind early, before coming back with a commanding second quarter. 

At one point, the game was tied at 14-14, before Carleton went on a 21-1 run. 

Tyson Hinz, an Ottawa local, led the charge for Carleton with an impressive double-double, dropping 26 points and pulling down 10 rebounds, all in just 22 minutes.

Hinz only missed one of his 10 field goal attempts in the game and impressed the many fans on hand.

Carleton’s three-point shooting was key in the game especially in the first half.

The Ravens went seven for eight in the first half alone and 10 for 16 in the game. 

By the time the second half started, the rest of the game was just a formality. 

The domination continued and, even though the Ravens weren’t as accurate as the first half, Bishop was simply too undersized to deal with the Ravens.

On Oct. 17, Carleton had a similar game with the University of Prince Edward Island.

The Ravens once again led the game and dominated both ends of the floor in a 92-52 win.  Veteran forward Kevin McCleery led the team this time around with 19 points.

However, the finals on Oct. 18 against the University of Saskatchewan Huskies would not be as easy as the other two games. 

But Carleton still pulled away and prevailed with a 97-79 victory.

McCleery asserted his dominance early in the game with his intimidating 6’8 frame.

The 240-lb forward showed his ability and versatility in the first quarter as he took a pass underneath the basket and muscled his way around the net for a layup.

The Huskies kept themselves in the game, but Raven guard Elliot Thompson’s long baseline shots helped Carleton maintain the lead in the early going. 

The Ravens headed into the second quarter leading 22-14.

Thompson and Cole Hobin were able to hit their open jump shots whenever they were presented with the opportunity. 

The Huskies managed to cut the deficit; however, Raven guard Anthony Ashe followed a dazzling finger roll with a three at the top of the circle to regain a sizeable lead.

McCleery topped off the quarter for Carleton with a three ball of his own and Carleton headed into the third quarter with a comfortable 50-38 lead.

The Ravens came out strong in the third, which was the key in their victory.

They started off the half with a 15-5 run that put the game out of reach for Saskatchewan.  Thompson continued to get passes on the baseline corner and consistently hit the open three pointers. 

In the fourth quarter, McCleery boosted his game stats with consecutive jumpers and sealed the win and the championship for the Ravens.

He finished with a game-high 21 points and was named MVP of the tournament.

Despite three controlling victories, head coach Dave Smart wasn’t ready to celebrate just yet.

“It’s still early. We’re just trying to learn how to take care of some team stuff. We’re not a great defensive team right now. Our main guys, one [of them] is not playing and the other is struggling a bit.”

Carlton has always been known to compete for the Canadian Interuniversity Sport Championship each year, but this year they won’t have the likes of Aaron Doornekamp and Stuart Turnball.

“We lost two national team players, one being the defensive player of the year. This is a rebuilding year. We have enough talent that if we rebuild quick enough we’ll be able to challenge any team in March but it’s going to be a rebuilding year. But we got enough talent,” Smart said.

Carleton still has much to improve upon, but they could not have had a better ending to the House Laughton Tournament.