Carleton Ravens guard Lloyd Pandi scored a career-high 19 points as the Ravens beat the University of Albany Great Danes 90-77 on Sunday.
Carleton struggled early on in the game, but recovered to attain their first-ever victory over Albany as Pandi and fifth-year guard Marcus Anderson (20 points, eight rebounds) led the way offensively.
“My mindset every single night is just to give everything for my team,” Pandi said.
“I know we’re short right now so I’ll have to play a different position, but other than that, all I want to do is just fight from my team every single night, try to get as many boards as I can, and contribute to my team.”
Carleton’s lineup lacks the height it had last year as Pandi played down low. The 6’4 Ottawa native usually plays shooting guard. The Ravens were out-rebounded 36-33.
“Since we know that we’re smaller, we just have to compete, fight,” Pandi noted. “We just got to be aggressive every single night.”
After a tough second quarter, Carleton went in at half-time down 34-36.
Rebounding is key to Carleton’s game and the Ravens started to struggle offensively when they started losing out in the rebounding category, according to Anderson.
By the fourth quarter, Carleton started to pull away. They were executing plays and making shots, and the game slowed down for them, said Pandi.
Pandi said he feeds off his teammates’ energy on the court and on the bench. Veterans Yasiin Joseph (10 points, eight rebounds), Munis Tutu (18 points, eight assists), and Isiah Osborne (12 points, six rebounds) all made contributions.
This summer has been an important one for Pandi, working hard in individual drills and practices leading up to his performance against Albany.
Head Coach Taffe Charles had nothing but praise for Pandi.
“Lloyd’s gonna be a very good player in this league. He’s only a first-year kid, he red-shirted last year, and I think he benefited from that. We were lucky to get him. He’s just a very powerful guy in a small body.”
Pandi came to Carleton via Bull City Prep (North Carolina) and Ashbury College (Ottawa). In his first season in 2018-19, he won a provincial and national title, despite not seeing the floor during the regular season and playoffs.
Charles mentioned his upbeat demeanour as another positive.
“Love his energy level, love his willingness to battle and fight, and I think that he’s only gonna get better.”
He did appear in four preseason games, having a season-best 12 points against St. Francis Xavier University and eight rebounds against Acadia in the same tournament last September.
Now, almost a year later, his team will count on him down low more than before.
Rebounding is a major focus for his development, according to him. He’s averaging 12.7 points and 5.3 rebounds-per-game so far this season.
The win over Albany means the Ravens end their Can-Am shootout 2-1. Their overtime loss against Valparaiso University on Aug. 13 motivated them for this game, according to Pandi.
“We couldn’t go 0-2 at home during the American games.”
Feature image by Tim Austen.
