It was the biggest game of the season so far for the Carleton Ravens men’s basketball team, as they defeated their cross-town rival, the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees, 94-73 at the sold-out Ravens’ Nest Nov. 29.
Both the Ravens and Gee-Gees entered the game 8-0, ranked first and second in the Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS), respectively.
The gym was packed with supporters from both universities cheering on their teams.
“It’s a fun atmosphere to play when this place is packed,” Ravens forward Tyson Hinz said. “I wish every game could be like this.”
The Ravens broke out to an early lead in the game. Then there was a quick momentum shift and the Gee-Gees quickly closed the gap to draw within one point by the end of the first quarter.
“We expected it to be a 40-minute basketball game,” Ravens head coach Dave Smart said. “They’re a very good team. I don’t know if there was a major panic, but ultimately we knew it was going to be a battle and it’s always going to be a battle.”
The momentum change didn’t last long, as the Ravens stepped it up to make the score 54-37 by halftime.
Ravens forward Thomas Scrubb said the first quarter was rough defensively but the team made up for it later with aggression.
“I think in the second quarter we were a lot more aggressive, and we made them do stuff they weren’t comfortable doing. That was the difference in the game, just defensive intensity in the second quarter,” he said.
Scrubb had 18 points in the game and seven rebounds, including one huge block in the first quarter that gave the Ravens an early edge.
“It was just our intensity,” Scrubb said. “We were getting out in transition, they were making mistakes on defence, we were getting wide-open 3’s. It’s a lot easier to play offence when we do stuff like that.”
Hinz led the Ravens with 32 points, nine rebounds, and two blocks. He also sunk six 3-pointers.
“I felt like I did a good job distributing the ball,” Hinz said. “I still turned it over a few times too many. We’ve got to look at that on tape and work on that.”
Despite all the great offence on the Ravens side, the Gee-Gees fought hard again in the third quarter and never surrendered.
Johnny Berhanemeskel led the Gee-Gees with 17 points and eight rebounds, while Caleb Agada netted 14 points.
“They’re a good team,” Hinz said. “No way do I think they’re going to pack it up and call it a season after this game. They’re going to be fired up and motivated—we’ve got to get better to match that.”
The Ravens ended up winning by more than 20 points, but the game was closer than the final score would suggest.
“They are the top two teams in the country,” Smart said. “It’s always a challenge to play a team that is one of a number of teams that can win the national championship, and they’re definitely one of those teams.”
With the win, the Ravens are now one of two undefeated teams remaining in the CIS, alongside the McGill University Redmen.
But the Ravens still believe they have a long way to go.
“We’ve got to defend better,” Smart said.
The Gee-Gees fall to 8-1 and the Ravens improve to 9-0 in the regular season.
The next games for the Ravens will be in the new year when they take on the Laurentian University Voyageurs and the Algoma University Thunderbirds Jan. 10-11.
[slideshow gallery_id=”4″]
