The Carleton Ravens beat the University of Ottawa (U of O) Gee-Gees 67-56 for their second straight Capital Hoops Classic victory. The Ravens also continued their undefeated season at 19-0.
Yasiin Joseph led the Ravens offensively with 15 points and five assists, while Brandon Robinson also had 15 points to lead the U of O in scoring.
The Ravens got off to an early lead as point guard Munis Tutu dished to Cam Smythe for a goaltending basket while finishing off a Joseph steal for a 4-2 lead.
However, the Gee-Gees would take control from there as back-to-back threes by Sean Stoqua and Robinson put them on top, 8-4. Tutu found Eddie Ekiyor for one of his 14 points in the game to cut it down to 8-6.
Robinson and Calvin Epistola were hot for the Gee-Gees as they jumped out to an 18-12 lead after 10 minutes. Kenny Jean-Louis and Robinson converted from deep to contribute to the lead.
Tutu found Ekiyor early in the second quarter as he tied the score at 18-18 to cap off a Ravens’ run. The teams traded baskets: Joseph answered former Raven Jean Emmanuel Pierre-Charles’ put-in with his own finish at the rim.
A Stanley Mayambo three-pointer was followed by an Epistola jumper. Carleton managed to give themselves a little breathing room as Joseph’s jumper put them up five and led to a U of O timeout. A Tutu three-pointer at the buzzer made it 35-30 heading into the break.
Joseph opened the third quarter with two drives and finishes at the rim to extend the Ravens lead to 39-32. Tutu piled onto the Ravens’ momentum with a three-pointer to put Carleton up 10.
However, the U of O would not go away as a Stoqua layup and Pierre-Charles bullet pass to Robinson for a corner three made it 42-37. Back-to-back scores by Marcus Anderson gave the Ravens some relief from the Gee-Gees comeback, but it wasn’t enough.
An Epistola steal and finish cut the lead down to 47-45 as the Gee-Gees crowd erupted. A Gage Sabean three-pointer off another Ravens turnover gave the U of O the lead.
Ravens forward Mitch Wood found his scoring form with four straight points—a rebound off a Tutu miss, and a drive to the basket to put the Ravens ahead 51-48 after three quarters.
Joseph scored off another drive at the rim at the start of the fourth to put Carleton up 53-48.
Sabean finished a layup, and hit a free throw to make it 55-51. Joseph answered with a three to make it 58-53.
The game got tight defensively before Carleton started to pull away. Ekiyor scored two straight baskets, putting Carleton up 62-53, which led to a Gee-Gees timeout with just under six minutes left in the game.
Anderson found Mayambo from beyond the arc to make it 65-53. As the U of O continued to miss shots late in the fourth, Carleton capitalized.
Gee-Gees forward and former Raven Brody Maracle missed two layups at the rim as Joseph found Ekiyor to make it 67-53 on the very next possession.
Both teams missed shots down the stretch as the Ravens prevailed with a 67-56 victory in front of the 8,579 people in attendance.
“Just be aggressive, be aggressive every time, look to score . . . just keep playing hard, playing defence,” Joseph said of his mentality heading into his first Capital Hoops Classic as a starter.
He also described the pros and cons of the defensive performance.
“We jumped to the ball pretty well. We defended long balls. It was kind of rugged,” he said. “We didn’t really pressure them left as we usually do,”
Anderson said the team needs to prepare better for games after falling behind early, but praised the team’s comeback.
“We knew they were going to come out and punch us in the mouth, but we just had to keep rallying back,” he added. “We knew they weren’t going to stop at any cost, and as long as we kept on coming, we knew we were going to have the edge.”
With this win the Carleton Ravens continue their domination of Ontario University Athletics and hold steady at number one in the U Sports rankings.
Photo by Aaron Hemens
