The Carleton Ravens men’s basketball team was defeated by the University of Ottawa (U of O) Gee-Gees 78-72 at the 10th annual MBNA Capital Hoops Classic.
The two rival teams matched up at the Canadian Tire Centre, where the crowd of thousands viewed. Coming into the game, the Ravens were historically the better team, but U of O had won two out of the last four matchups.
The Ravens and Gee-Gees met last on Jan. 16 at the Ravens’ Nest, where U of O narrowly defeated Carleton by just two points. On Friday, the Ravens were looking to get revenge.
Guillaume Payen Boucard scored the first points of the game off a putback. From there, the Ravens and Gee-Gees traded buckets back and forth, with neither team able to take control of the game. The Ravens looked to Payen Boucard for scoring early, much like their last matchup.
With Payen Boucard unable to score inside the paint, the Ravens were down 15-11 at the end of the first quarter. As the second quarter began, the Ravens looked to point guard Kaza Kajami-Keane to lead the offence.
The intensity of the game was off the charts, as both teams played with the energy of a championship game. Defence was the focus for both sides in this low-scoring affair, as both teams shot poorly in the first half.
With two minutes left in the first half, Raven Connor Wood hit a three, then a layup to give Carleton a 25-23 lead. U of O forward Brody Maracle came right back with an and-one layup, and the two teams traded leads again.
Kajami-Keane missed a three for the lead as the buzzer sounded, and the Ravens walked into the change room down by one point.
The Ravens shot just 2-17 from deep in the half, unable to connect on the shots they usually make.
“We just fell short on making shots,” Kajami-Keane said.
The Gee-Gees came out of the half strong, going on a 9-3 run to open the quarter. Gavin Resch and Wood each hit a three to keep the Ravens in the game, but Gee-Gees guard Mike L’Africain took control soon after, scoring nine points in the quarter in short order. The Gee-Gees ended the quarter up 50-39.
“We fell short defensively in the third quarter, and we didn’t rebound like we did in the first half,” Kajami-Keane said. “We didn’t put ourselves in a position to win the game.”
Gee-Gees forward Matt Plunkett hit three heavily-contested threes in the fourth, but the Ravens would just not quit.
When L’Africain went down with just 2:31 remaining, it looked as if the Ravens had a chance for a last-minute comeback. The Ravens played the intentional fouling game, and they got to within four points with under 10 seconds left. However, the Gee-Gees closed out the game with a couple shots and free throws, and the Ravens lost to the Gee-Gees for the second time in a row.
The Ravens were led by Kajami-Keane, who had 19 points and six assists in the tough loss. Payen Boucard added 19 as well, and Resch had four triples en route to his 12 points. Carleton shot just 26.8 per cent from the field, as their record dropped to 10-3 on the season.
“We got a lot of layups—we just have to make the shots that we get,” said Ravens head coach Rob Smart. “We just didn’t get into the zone, our guys weren’t comfortable.”
Ravens forward Ryan Ejim had a simple answer to what went wrong for the Ravens: “We didn’t rebound or get stops. We have to be better.”
The Gee-Gees’ L’Africain put up 23 points as he led the team, with forward Caleb Agada out with an injury.
“We just have to buy in, and be the best team we can be for the last two months,” Kajami-Keane said.
The Ravens will have a two-game road trip next week at Brock University on Feb. 12 and McMaster University on Feb. 13.
