The Carleton Ravens men’s basketball team continued their winning streak in the Can-Am Shootout on Aug. 12, beating the Arkansas-Pine Bluff Golden Lions 117-74. The win put the Ravens at 3-0 in exhibition play against National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) teams, having already bested Stinson and Wichita State.
Although the team won by a fair point margin, they left their supporters on the edge of their seats for most of the game. The Golden Lions had great endurance on the court putting up a good fight against the reigning Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) champions.
“They’re very fast, very strong, but coach did a good job of preparing us for what they’d be like all week. So it wasn’t surprising when we got in there, we knew what we were going to face,” Ryan Ejim, the Ravens’ starting forward, said.
Ejim was always under the net ready for a pass, leading the Ravens with 10 points in the first quarter, while Connor Wood was just behind him with nine points.
The Ravens took their time to set up and ran smart plays against the Golden Lions’ zone defence. The team had a perfect free throw percentage in the first quarter, setting them up for a 23-point lead.
In the second quarter, Tajinder Lall brought people to their feet with his fast-break dunk. The Golden Lions responded by double teaming the Ravens towards the end of the quarter, although to no avail.
The Golden Lions came energized after halftime, and the Ravens came back comfortable yet determined after their 60-34 lead. Cam Smythe, the Ravens’ forward, stole the spotlight in the third quarter with 10 points, two rebounds, one steal, and just one turnover in six minutes on the court.
Connor Wood shared the third quarter spotlight with his teammate Smythe with a 5-8 (FG-FGA) in three pointers.
As the stakes got higher in the fourth quarter, both teams played physically and started getting more personal fouls — six for the Golden Lions while the Ravens racked up four. Head coach Dave Smart called a time-out shortly into the quarter after several passes over the key resulted in steals.
The Ravens came back out strong and finished off the game shooting 53.8 per cent from three. The team shot 65.6 per cent from the field and maintained their fairly high free throw percentage of 82.6 per cent, setting them up for the big win.
Rob Smart, assistant coach for the Ravens, said the team’s communication on defence and their level of attention to detail were amongst the things that had an impact on their performance.
“I think certain guys were covering their own man,” Rob Smart said. “They weren’t focusing on what the team needed them to do and that’s going to cost them on offence –- just not having a confident plan that five guys know about. That makes things look very ragged at times.”
Ravens’ guard Joe Rocca said the team needs to be more aggressive in getting rebounds.
“I know personally I need to improve immensely in that area,” Rocca said via Facebook.
Rocca, who recently made the transition from McMaster University’s team, said his goals for the upcoming season are simple.
“I want to compete at the highest level and be a piece that can help put our team in a position to win a national title in March,” he said.
The Ravens continued their pre-season with another huge win over Morgan State on Aug. 17, defeating the Bears 113-62 and breaking a record for largest margin of victory over an NCAA team while remaining undefeated in the Can-Am Shootout.
The Ravens will look to wrap up their Shootout experience with back-to-back games against St. Thomas Aquinas College on Aug. 29 and 30.
