The Carleton Ravens men’s basketball team captured their first Wilson Cup title since 2015 with a blowout victory over the Ryerson Rams 84-58.
The Ravens had lost to the Rams in the past two Wilson Cup finals.
“It’s nothing like a national championship,” point guard Yasiin Joseph said after the game. “It’s a great feeling obviously but obviously you want to be on top in the national championships, to be the last team in Canada.”
Ravens guard Stanley Mayambo led the way with 17 points off the bench, including going five-for-nine for three-point range, while Joseph finished with 11 points and 10 assists in 27 minutes of action.
Carleton got off to a quick 11-0 start, led by a Marcus Anderson three-pointer, a Cam Smythe jumper and a Joseph drive and finish, prompting Ryerson coach Roy Rana to call an early timeout.
The Rams would get back into it as Carleton picked up a number of fouls. Ryerson’s Ammanuel Diressa limped off with an injury as Anderson knocked down another three.
Anderson, the OUA defensive player of the year, would pick up two quick fouls, giving way for Mayambo to step up. Joseph found him in the corner for three to make it 17-9.
The Rams would also heat up from outside as Diressa returned, without Anderson guarding him, and drilled two straight from beyond the arc to put the visitors up 18-17.
Carleton would slowly pull away into a 42-34 lead at halftime. Joseph continued to display his playmaking abilities, dishing the ball to Mitch Wood.
Joseph found fellow Ontario University Athletics (OUA) first-team all-star and Ottawa native Eddie Ekiyor for a dunk that was met with applause from the sold-out crowd. Ekiyor finished a layup and the ensuing free-throw to push the score to 51-34.
Carleton held Ryerson scoreless in the third quarter until a Tanor Ngom layup. By then, they were already on their way to the championship, up 58-36. It was punctuated by a Joseph three ball less than a minute later.
Joseph found Mayambo again from deep to make it 65-36 to end the third quarter.
Ryerson kept up offensively in the fourth quarter but they couldn’t get enough stops to mount a comeback. Carleton outscored them 19-15 in the final 10 minutes.
Mayambo’s three-pointer put his point tally at 17 and brought the crowd into cheers again.
“Stanley’s always ready to shoot,” Anderson said. “He’s a shooter and he’s a good lockdown defender and whenever he’s on the court, we’ve got a lot of faith in him and a lot of trust so if he’s there to shoot it, I know he’s going to knock it down.”
Anderson and Mayambo also praised Joseph’s game.
“[Joseph], he’s always ready to go,” Anderson added. “He’s a good offensive scorer so he draws a lot of help and when he creates that help, a lot of people get open.”
Joseph was a bench player during his first two years at Carleton, who has talked about soaking everything in (from coaches, practices, film sessions) and developing a routine and discipline over the summer as the keys to his breakout season as Carleton’s leading scorer in the regular season (14.7 points-per-game).
“I mean he loves basketball, he loves training, he’s super skilled and he just comes out here and plays his game and he gets success,” Mayambo said. “I’ve known him for a while, I know how skilled he is and I’m just trying to learn from him.”
Unlike the past two years, the Ravens will head into U Sports nationals in Halifax from March 8-11 as the Wilson Cup champions, in a slightly different situation—something Anderson recognizes.
“It’s a lot tougher for us to find motivation but in order for us to win, we got to find that edge,” the Brampton native noted. “And when we find that edge, it’s going to be tougher for a lot of teams to stop us and we’ve just got to be ready to play like every other game.”
