The Ravens men’s basketball team won the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) Wilson Cup semi-finals against the Brock University Badger by a score of 86-44.
The offence was led by newly crowned OUA first-team all-star Eddie Ekiyor with 25 points and 11-14 shooting.
The team had two more all-stars honoured before the game, forward T.J Lall, who was serving a one game suspension, received second-team honours. Guard Munis Tutu received third-team honours.
Head coach Dave Smart was named OUA coach of the year for the third year in a row, as forward Marcus Anderson earned OUA defensive player of the year for the second time in as many years.
The veteran coach saw the bigger picture with the award.
“It’s nice for the team—it’s a team award.” Smart said. “If you look across the country, the guys who got it were the teams who finished first in the league. So it’s a credit to the players more and my staff obviously more than anything I’ve done.”
Carleton was heavily favoured going into the game after winning its previous game against Brock 86-46 on Nov. 26.
The team struggled shooting early on and started the game down 3-0 with uncharacteristically bad turnovers and elevated play from a motivated Badgers squad.
The game remained close with the lead exchanging evenly in the first quarter.
“We just didn’t defend very well to start. They came out energized and made shots,” Dave Smart said on the first quarter.
Forward Cassidy Ryan led the way for the Badgers early on, silencing the home crowd as the six foot seven forward demonstrated his range in his final U Sports game. Ryan showed his versatility by scoring from range and showing off his dunk.
Ryan had 17 points in the first half but got into foul trouble picking up three fouls in the first half, including a heavy charge bravely taken by Ravens forward Mitch Wood.
Smart was impressed by Ryan and game-planned around him.
“He was great early making shots for them—we did do what we wanted to do,” Smart said. “We attacked him and put him in a position where he had to foul or give up good looks.”
Ryan going to the bench had the effect Smart wanted as it was the difference the Ravens needed to take over the game. The Ravens widened their lead by 10 points and led by as much as 15 in the second quarter.
In the closing moments of the first half, Brock guard Kascius Small-Martin missed a three-point shot.
An offensive rebound by Anderson allowed Tutu to forward the ball up to Ekiyor who scored the layup—bringing the home crowd to its feet. The Ravens went to the locker room up 44-25.
The third quarter brought much of the same with Ekiyor scoring six straight points, the last two were on a beautiful back door cut-and-dunk with an assist from Tutu.
Tutu struggled shooting 2-11 on the night but found other ways to contribute with eight assists and eight rebounds.
The rest of the game brought much of the same with Carleton’s starters coming out early in the fourth quarter.
Carleton will play Ryerson on Mar. 2 with the OUA title on the line.
After the game, Smart said Saturday’s game will be a warm up leading into the U Sports Men’s Basketball Championships in Halifax.
“I don’t think [Saturday’s] game means very much, except the teams get to work on what the teams need to work on. ” Smart said. “It’s a seeding game, so if [we] win, we won’t be on the same of the bracket as them at nationals. That’s good because they’re really good, but so are Calgary, so are Saint-Mary’s. So it doesn’t mean much.”
This will be the fourth time the two teams have met in the OUA finals in the last four years.
The veteran head coach wasn’t overly concerned about whether they win or lose the OUA championships, pointing to past experiences where it has impacted the motivation of the losing team.
“I’m more worried about getting to them in a week and a half,” Smart said. “Saturday is Saturday, you have to play the game—it’s a seeding game.”
Photo by Tim Austen
