Ottawa’s biggest basketball game of the year came down to the wire.
On Feb. 6, the Carleton Ravens men’s basketball team squeaked out a 79-66 win over the division-leading University of Ottawa (U of O) Gee-Gees, winning a battle between the top two teams in the country.
The result was the first loss of the season for the Gee-Gees and further clogs the fog at the top of the Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) rankings.
“They’re tough,” Ravens head coach Dave Smart said. “You have to keep them off-balance. They have a lot of talented guys who can score, and you have to do different things to them.”
U of O has otherwise run the table against both the Ravens and other Ontario University Athletics North division opponents. The Gee-Gees’ 1,385 points are by far the most in their division.
The Ravens got off to a good start, with the Scrubb brothers running the floor.
Through two quarters, Thomas Scrubb was seven-for-11 on shooting attempts, contributing heartily to a Carleton field goal percentage of 42.9 per cent on the night.
However, just as they have over the course of the past few seasons, the Gee-Gees began to change the in-game conversation.
The Gee-Gees’ slow start was quickly erased by the high-powered offense of Johnny Berhanemeskel.
The fifth-year senior played an integral role in the Gee-Gees’ game, going 10-for-17 from the floor for a team-high 28 points.
The fifth-year point guard let the arena know that U of O wasn’t going down without a fight.
The game was eventually tied up by Berhanemeskel at 51 with just more than three minutes remaining in the third quarter.
But the Ravens stepped up to the occasion, fifth-year forward Thomas Scrubb said.
“We didn’t crumble at the start of the third quarter when they began to come back,” Scrubb said, who had a game-high 29 points.
“There were a few points when they began to come back, but we always kept it to a one-point game.”
With Carleton pulling away, Ravens guard Gavin Resch put the nail into the Gee-Gees’ coffin with a three-pointer that gave the Ravens a cushioned 11-point lead.
Smart said the Ravens were hindered due to injuries earlier in the week, such as to guard Victor Raso, which affected their ability to practice.
“We couldn’t do any contact this week, we had eight guys,” he said. “Practices are generally full-out physical wars, and we couldn’t do any contact because we couldn’t afford to lose anyone else.”
The Ravens still trail the Gee-Gees in the standings, but the closed point gap does allude to a rival that will not go away any time soon.
“We’re a pretty good team, they’re a really good team,” Smart said. “We still have to up our game if we want to compete with them in the future.”
The Ravens still have their work cut out for them, as they travel to Queen’s on Feb. 13, continuing their ascent to the CIS playoffs.
The prospect of Carleton and Ottawa facing off in the playoffs and CIS Final 8 is a salivating thought for basketball fans.
