CALGARY — The Carleton Ravens men’s basketball team may have fallen to the TMU Bold in the OUA finals, but they weren’t about to let it happen again on the national stage.
In a tight 58-52 victory Saturday night in the semifinals, the Ravens advanced to the U SPORTS Men’s Basketball Final 8 national championship game, earning a measure of revenge after losing to TMU exactly one week earlier in the Wilson Cup.
“It means the world, honestly,” said Ravens fifth-year forward Cedric Mbiaba. “I’m actually quite thrilled, I’m excited. But we need one more win. All these wins don’t mean anything if you don’t get the win tomorrow.”
The Ravens, who bested the Laval Rouge et Or in the quarterfinals, are seeking their first national championship since 2023. They will face either the Victoria Vikes or the Bishop’s Gaiters.
“We spent a lot of time game planning each other last week,” Ravens head coach Taffe Charles said of the TMU matchup. “So in one sense, it was a little bit easier, especially with the familiarity. No secrets. We just made a couple more plays than they did, to be perfectly honest.”
TMU will play for bronze against the loser of the Vikes-Gaiters matchup.
The Ravens and TMU, both defensively strong teams throughout the OUA season, are used to low-scoring affairs, and the first quarter felt like more of the same.
TMU struck first, eventually opening a 10-4 lead to start the game. Carleton clawed their way back, trailing by just one point as TMU held a narrow 13-12 lead after the opening quarter.
“It was a really tight game,” Charles said. “I’ve had a lot of experience in these games, and it’s never pretty — it’s just about getting the results.”
TMU began the second with a six-point run as early turnovers, fouls and missed shots plagued the Ravens, prompting head coach Taffe Charles to call a timeout just a minute and a half into the quarter.
The Ravens added four more points from the free-throw line. The last tied the game at 26-26 as the teams headed into halftime, marking the lowest-scoring first half of the tournament so far.
Carleton had 29 rebounds at the half, an area where they have looked strong throughout the tournament. Mbiaba led the way with five boards, also putting up a team-leading eight points in the first half.
TMU earned just 35 rebounds total to Carleton’s 59.
Aaron Rhooms, TMU’s top player, was held to a mere six points in the first half. He opened the scoring in the second half, but after his layup, the Ravens went on a five point run, topped off by a perfectly placed three by Mbiaba.
The U SPORTS Player of the Year couldn’t be held off for long,as the fifth-year guard put TMU back on top with back-to-back shots from beyond the arc.
“It’s been tough for us,” Mbiaba said. “There hasn’t been one game that has been easy for us. And our coach preaches it all the time. We know that every game, it’s not going to be easy. So we always say, ‘Play for 40 minutes.’ It’s got to stay resilient.”
Another three swung the lead again, with Mark Dike knocking one down for Carleton to regain a two-point advantage at 36-34 with three minutes remaining in the third quarter.
TMU tied the game and went up by one after converting at the free-throw line. But a spark following another Carleton timeout gave the Ravens life in the final minute of the third, as they surged ahead to take a 42-37 lead into the final quarter.
“The good news is, we’ve had a lot of adversity,” Charles said of the team’s composure. “Last week was tough. It was disappointing to lose in their gym. We didn’t play very well.
“I think we just been used to that adversity. Things weren’t going well for us all the time, so let’s learn to battle.”
After a low-scoring first few minutes of the fourth quarter, Brown made his first three of the game after nine attempts, giving the Ravens a seven-point cushion of 47-40.
TMU answered with a seven-point run to tie the game once again, but another three from Mark Dike put the Ravens back in front.
Two free throws brought TMU within one before Mark Dike struck again from beyond the arc, extending Carleton’s lead to 53-49 with less than two minutes remaining.
TMU scrambled to add another point from the free-throw line, but Cedric Mbiaba provided insurance with a layup and then two free throws of his own with 21 seconds left.
Mbiaba finished with a team-leading 19 points, the best by a wide margin.
“Our guy back at the hotel,” Mbiaba said of MJ Okado, who motivated him on Saturday. Okado, a hometown hero in Calgary, left the game late in quarterfinal with an apparent knee injury and was not present to watch the semifinals.
“He’s my roommate,” Mbiaba said. “It just fueled me, fueled all of us. So just gotta keep it going, gotta win for him.”
The win means the Ravensare heading to their biggest game of the season.
“We’re going to have to figure out a way to get it done,” Charles said. “ It’s about the result at this point.”
Tip-off for the U SPORTS national championship game is set for 7:00 p.m. EST.
“It resets,” Mbiaba said. “We got to figure out Victoria or whoever makes it out, and it resets. So at the end of the day, it’s us.
“We don’t lose to teams; when we lose, it’s because we didn’t do our job.”
Featured image by Zoe Pierce/the Charlatan
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