Fresh off their first loss since 2012 against Canadian Interuniversity Sport [CIS] competition, the Carleton Ravens men’s basketball team defeated the McMaster University Marauders 82-64 in the quarter-finals of the CIS Men’s Basketball Final 8 March 7.
Before a crowd dominated by Ravens fans at the Canadian Tire Centre, the Ravens returned to their winning ways by knocking off the Marauders, after their winning streak was snapped March 1 in the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) final against the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees.
In their only other game against the Marauders this season, the Ravens won 83-72. Ravens head coach Dave Smart said both of these games were fairly similar, but said he tries to put the past behind him.
“That was a long time ago, that was in their gym,” he said. “We were in a lot of foul trouble, I think it’s hard to compare the games, I think the games were very similar.”
Ravens fourth-year guard Philip Scrubb said his team played much better than in the OUA Wilson Cup championship game.
“I think we had a bit more confidence and played better as a team,” he said. “Our points matched their physicality, and they tried to get physical with us and I think we respond pretty well.”
The Ravens got off to a fast start, putting up 15 points in the first five minutes of play. Their early offensive pressure was too much for the Marauders to handle.
After the initial Ravens outburst, the Marauders settled down a little bit. They were able to close the gap as the first quarter ended with the score 25-17 for the Ravens.
The Marauders weren’t done there. They carried the momentum into the second quarter, going on a 10-point run.
Smart said they were never really worried, but he still felt the Marauders performed very well.
“Offensively, we did some good things in terms of getting what we wanted and what we needed,” he said. “Defensively, we got some breaks, they missed some shots, and they did some good things to get some open looks.”
Scrubb hit a deep three-pointer late in the second quarter to widen the gap between the two teams, and then added two crucial free throws shortly after. Scrubb said his brother Thomas Scrubb’s play was actually more important than his own to get the Ravens back on track.
“I thought I made a few plays, but I thought [Thomas’] play was pretty key,” he said. “He made a lot of shots for us at the end, and I think that’s what made the difference.”
Philip had 21 points in the game and five rebounds, while Thomas had 20 points and 14 rebounds.
For the Marauders, Leon Alexander led the team with 14 points while Aaron Redpath had 10.
The Ravens didn’t pull away from their team until the end of the third quarter, going up by 13. The Marauders tried another late push, but the effort came too late.
Thomas said it felt like his team got back on track the way they played early in the first quarter.
“We knew we had to respond differently than we did last weekend,” he said. “We had an attitude change and did what we needed to do.”
The Ravens will now face the University of Alberta Golden Bears at 6:00 p.m. March 8. The Golden Bears came into the tournament as the third seed. They defeated the Saint Mary’s University Huskies 72-62 to move on to the semifinals.
Smart said the Golden Bears are a big, physical team and they are going to have bring their best in order to beat them.
“We’re going to have our hands full with that team,” he said.
