It’s a new month, but the same story, as the Carleton Ravens men’s basketball team brushed aside the Queen’s University Gaels 99-57 on Feb. 1 en route to their 16th straight win this season.
Carleton had won the previous encounter 104-63 and for long periods of the February rematch, looked set to repeat that performance.
“I thought we played pretty well,” third-year guard Philip Scrubb said. “There were some things that we needed to clean up on offence but overall it was a decent job.”
Scrubb scored a season low of six points in the game and admitted Queen’s had done an admirable job of marking players.
The final score was only the 11th time Carleton hasn’t been able to get past the century mark this season.
Tyson Hinz led the way for the team with 18 points, five rebounds, and three steals.
Six of his points came from outside the arc, which became a key factor as the game dragged on.
The Ravens scored 40 per cent of their shots from downtown, compared to only 34.8 per cent by the Gaels.
“We could always work on our shooting but you can’t rely on winning games by your shooting,” Hinz said.
Despite the win, Hinz maintains that to continue to be successful, defending needs to be improved.
“[The game] was a pretty good showing of what we need to work on,” Hinz said. “We have to be faster at rotations and be better at shutting down their main players.”
He picked out quicker transitions from defending to attacking as well as better rebounding as areas Carleton needs to focus on if they want to keep their Ontario University Athletics (OUA) and national titles.
With only three games left in the 2012-2013 regular season, the Ravens are looking to maintain their focus heading in to the playoffs.
Carleton will next face off against the Ryerson University Rams on Feb. 8 as the battle for top spot in the OUA East division winds down.
The Rams are four points back and have a game in hand over the Ravens, whose most pressing issue is Ryerson’s stinginess on the defensive end.
The Rams have given up the second least amount of points in the OUA.
The only team to have given up less? Carleton.
A win over their nearest competitors would be a good warm-up for Carleton’s playoff run.
“We have to keep competing, especially on the defensive end,” Scrubb said. “Rebounding will be especially important.”
In the Queen’s game, Carleton and Queen’s were nearly even in defensive rebounds (26 and 23 respectively) and it will be a key battle in the Ryerson game.
Carleton and Ryerson are neck and neck in rebounding rates, with Ryerson having a 0.1 per cent advantage in the Canadian Interuniversity Sport rankings.
“They’re pretty talented offensively,” Scrubb said. “If we can compete on defence and get in to transitions quickly then I think we have a pretty good chance.”
