It was a rollercoaster season for the Carleton Ravens men’s basketball team, with Rob Smart taking over as head coach and plenty of roster turnover, including only one returning starter from last year.
But the Ravens prevailed once again, defeating the University of Calgary Dinos 101-79 to win their sixth straight W.P. McGee Trophy and Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) men’s basketball championship.
“It’s called a championship tradition,” Dalhousie coach Rick Plato said about the Ravens men’s basketball team. “When you talk about dynasties in Canadian sports, you have to mention Smart’s Carleton teams. They have the championship aura—they know what it takes.”
The Ravens came into the tournament as the second seed after losing to the Ryerson Rams on March 13 in the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) conference finals.
The Dinos, who were playing in their first Final 8 Tournament in six years, beat the Rams in the semifinals to make it to their first championship game since 1966. Calgary was unable to capture their first national title on Sunday, however, falling victim to Carleton’s relentless defence.
The game started with back-to-back blocks by Ravens forward Guillaume Payen Boucard. Ravens guard Gavin Resch hit a couple triples in the first three minutes, and Carleton grabbed control of the game early. Dinos guard Thomas Cooper, runner-up for CIS player of the year, scored seven points in the opening quarter. Calgary had no answer for the Ravens shooters, who made six threes in just the first 10 minutes.
“What Gavin did early just loosened everything up,” Smart said. “All of a sudden you have more space for Guillaume [Payen Boucard], for Kaza [Kajami-Keane], and when we’re unselfish and find the open guy, that’s the way we want to play.”
Payen Boucard also went to work in the post to start the game, scoring eight points in the first quarter alone. Raven’s forward Tajinder Lall also added two threes off the bench, and the Ravens led 26-14 going into the second. While the Ravens offence was firing on all cylinders, their focus was clearly on the defensive end, where they held the potent Calgary offence to just 26.7 per cent shooting to start the game.
“I thought we hung in there for the first couple minutes,” said Dinos head coach Dan Vanhooren. “When Gavin [Resch] hit his first three, that’s where we fell behind.”
The Ravens continued their hot shooting in the second quarter, as Ravens forward Ryan Ejim scored a layup off a nice dish by Kajami-Keane. Ejim then blocked a dunk attempt on the other end by Dinos, one of the game highlights.
However, the Dinos started to heat up, and a well-timed triple by Dinos guard Thomas Cooper cut their deficit to 10. The Ravens responded with a three of their own—this time by Cameron Smyth, to expand the gap.
Resch hit two more shots from downtown in the quarter and after an and-1 layup by Connor Wood, Carleton went into the half up 48-32. Cooper led all scorers with 14 points in the half, but Carleton’s balanced attack allowed for easier looks, with the Ravens shooting 43.2 per cent to Calgary’s 30.3 per cent from the field.
“Game in, game out, we have no idea who’s going to score for us,” Smart said. “It makes us hard to play against if everyone’s ready to contribute.”
The Dinos came out of halftime with added intensity, but Carleton defence managed to hold. Ejim scored eight straight for the Ravens, but Torrez McKoy of the Dinos responded by hitting a three-quarter court shot as the third quarter buzzer expired.
“Early in the second half I thought we could have made a run at them,” Vanhooren said. “But then they hit another three—credit to them, they deserve to win.”
The fourth quarter began with the Ravens up 71-56, but the lead extended with Carleton going on a 9-2 run to begin their final quarter of basketball this year. The Ravens offence did not let up as the clock winded down. Wood and Resch combined for five threes in the quarter. A Resch triple gave the Ravens a 21-point lead with just over three minutes remaining, and Carleton kept their lead until the final buzzer.
The crowd erupted as Carleton raised the W.P. McGee trophy for the sixth straight year, their first without Phil and Thomas Scrubb. Wood was named player of the game, scoring 22 points with five triples.
“I’m certainly disappointed, but you gotta give credit to Carleton,” Vanhooren said. “Our kids hung in there—they battled right to the last minute.”
The Ravens fifth-year starters Resch and Payen Boucard both had huge games, going out on top in their last ever CIS basketball game. Resch hit six threes en route to 18 points, and Paye Boucard added 12 points with 10 rebounds.
Cooper had another huge showing with 25 points, but also had nine turnovers in the process.
“Unfortunately they were able to hit more open shots than us tonight,” Cooper said. “They played us smart—they packed the lane and made us hit outside shots.”
“Cooper is an unbelievable player, but [Payen Boucard] did a great job of wearing him down,” Smart said. “I think Guillaume [Payen Boucard] getting to Cooper’s shot got in his head a little bit, Guillaume’s length was something he hadn’t seen yet this tournament.”
It was a huge victory for the Ravens as they said they felt many had doubted them. “Everyone on this team thinks that they are underestimated,” Wood said. “After the Scrubbs left, everyone underestimated the rest of us but we wanted to prove that we can be just as helpful to the team.”
The Ravens defence was a constant all season, leading the CIS in points allowed with just 60.7 per game, but their offence was inconsistent, a work in progress. Nevertheless, the Ravens offence picked the perfect time to peak, and with their extremely strong play on both ends, they proved they were the best team in the country.
“I’m just happy some of these guys got their first championship this year,” Resch said, who is the only Raven celebrating his sixth win. “Kaza [Kajami-Keane], Ryan [Ejim], Tajinder [Lall], Stanley [Mayambo], Marcus [Anderson], they all contributed.”
Next year, the Ravens will look to tie the University of Victoria’s record seven championships in a row. For now, however, the Ravens will celebrate as the national champions.
