The Carleton Ravens men’s basketball team continued their fine form as they defeated the University of Toronto and previously unbeaten Ryerson University to extend their winning streak to 11 games.
“I think we had a good weekend,” first-year guard Kewyn Blain said. “The Saturday night game against Ryerson was big and we answered the call.”
The Jan. 11 game against the University of Toronto saw the Ravens quickly establish a 21-point lead at the half before finishing with a 91-57 win.
Philip Scrubb scored a game-high 26 points and his brother, Thomas, picked up 16 points to help pace Carleton’s offence.
The Ravens then took on undefeated Ryerson University the following day in a battle for first place in their Ontario University Athletics (OUA) East Division.
But the Ravens proved up to the challenge, riding Tyson Hinz’s 24 points to a 91-66 victory.
Hinz admitted that they still have improvements to make going forward, but was pleased with their second half performance against Ryerson in particular.
“I thought the second half of the Ryerson game was something we could take away from [the weekend],” he said. “We showed that if we defend hard and get their guys doing what they don’t want to do, we can be pretty good.”
Justin Shaver, a second-year forward, agreed that their team defence is getting better.
“It was a step up defensively for us,” he said. “As a team I think we progressed in the right direction, and we proved that against Ryerson with them being undefeated.”
The Ravens are past the halfway point of the season, and the importance of games from now on will only increase.
And one of the marquee events of their season is quickly approaching.
After one more game against Queen’s University on Jan. 19, the team will begin their preparation for the Capital Hoops Classic against their cross-town rivals from the University of Ottawa.
The annual game, now in its seventh season for the men, will be at Scotiabank Place on Jan. 23.
Hinz, a fourth-year forward, said playing in the game a number of times before has helped him understand the importance of handling it like a normal game.
“If we put some special aura around it, it’s not going to go well,” he said. “But if we treat it like any other game, prepare the same way, and get the same focus, we should be alright.”
One of the biggest keys to Carleton’s success this year has been Blain, who has been logging significant minutes as a freshman.
Now entering his first Capital Hoops Classic, Blain said he credits his fellow players and coaches for helping him along his first season.
“I don’t feel like a freshman, I just feel like I’m part of the team,” he said. “They did everything they should’ve done for me to be comfortable and confident when I play.”
But while the Ravens can expect the crazy atmosphere, they can also expect a serious challenge from a much-improved University of Ottawa squad.
The Gee-Gees’ 10-2 record on the season and the inclusion of star guard Warren Ward, who missed the 2012 event with an injury, mean this year’s edition might be closer than Carleton’s 40-point shellacking of UOttawa 12 months ago.
Hinz said his team expects a strong challenge from the Gee-Gees this year.
“We never expect to beat teams by too much, we always prepare for war,” Hinz said. “If we come out and we play well, there’s obviously a chance that we do win, but we expect every game to be close.”
