The Carleton Ravens men’s basketball team came out of the gate strong but couldn’t get in the win bracket Nov. 4 and 5 in their final weekend of pre-season play in Philadelphia.
The visiting Ravens lost a heartbreaker against the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I University of Pennsylvania Quakers Nov. 5, giving up six unanswered points in the dying minutes of a 74-72 defeat.
“We just couldn’t finish the game. We’ve got to play the full 40 minutes, and they just beat us,”said Ravens forward Tyson Hinz, who scored eight points in the game.
The Ravens looked to have the game under control, leading the Quakers by a score of 72-68 with less than two minutes remaining. But a pair of Quakers baskets tied up the game, and they got the ball back with 5.8 seconds to go after a missed opportunity by the Ravens.
Though Quakers guard Zack Rosen missed a buzzer beating three-pointer, he was fouled on the play, allowing Rosen to sink two of three free throws en route to the two-point victory.
“It’s always tough to lose close but at the same time it’s always tough to lose big,” said first-year forward Justin Shaver. “A loss is a loss, and you’ve got to look at what you did wrong, at what you didn’t do and move forward to try and prepare for the next game.”
Guard Willy Manigat went 7-12 from beyond the arc for the Ravens, ending the game with 21 points. Sophomore guard Philip Scrubb was the only other Carleton player to hit double digits, notching two three-pointers en route to a 14-point showing.
“We still didn’t bring enough energy,” Shaver said. “It just felt like it was not important and just not Carleton basketball. That’s something we’ve got to change, definitely, coming up to the season.”
Earlier in the weekend, the Ravens were unable to keep up with the La Salle University Explorers in the second half, dropping a 74-56 decision at the hands of another NCAA opponent Nov. 4.
Scrubb and Hinz paced the Ravens with 10 points each, but were the only Ravens to hit double digits.
La Salle, on the other hand, had six players each notch 10 points or more. Forward Devon White and guard Tyreek Duren led the way with 14 points each.
Though the Ravens kept the game tight in the first half, they were kept to a 33 per cent shooting percentage after halftime, and the Explorers capitalized.
“We weren’t mentally prepared,” said Shaver, who recorded five points and five rebounds in the defeat. “We had a bunch of lapses and couldn’t recover.”
”The weekend was a bit of an eye-opener,” Hinz added. “There’s still a lot of stuff we need to work on.”
The Ravens open their season Nov. 11 against the McMaster Marauders.
