The Carleton Ravens men’s basketball team entered the Capital Hoops Classic on Feb. 3 riding a 14-game win streak while their opponents, the Gee-Gees, also came in hot, having won four straight.
In front of 10,030 fans, the Ravens managed to secure a 74-61 win.
Following the game, Ravens forward Ryan Ejim said he was happy the team got the win.
“[U of O] is a good team and we knew it was going to be a fight, we knew it was going to be a battle, we knew it was going to be physical,” he said.
The game started with U of O winning the tip off and scoring the first basket of the game.
Carleton responded with forward Eddie Ekiyor leading a 4-0 run of his own to get the Ravens on the board. Ravens guard Kaza Kajami-Keane put together a strong quarter, scoring eight points.
The Ravens started the second quarter with a narrow 14-13 lead. U of O was strong from the three-point line, completing five of 11 attempts and scoring 15 points.
U of O guard Brandon Robinson scored three of those three-pointers and had a total of 10 points in the quarter.
Despite shooting at 44 percent from the field, Carleton only led 31-29 after two quarters.
U of O was shooting at 28 per cent but managed to get 20 shot attempts, two times more than Carleton’s 10 attempts. U of O also benefited from Carleton’s eight turnovers.
After a five minute break in the middle of the quarter due to a shot clock malfunction, Carleton stormed ahead on a five-point run. In the half, Carleton outscored U of O 23-9, giving them a commanding 16-point lead. Carleton guard Joe Rocca put up eight points in the third quarter alone.
U of O tried to keep scoring from the three-point line but had little luck, going one-for-11 attempts. In overall field goal attempts, they went three-for-19.
Entering the fourth quarter, the Ravens led 54-38. In the fourth, both teams went back and forth trading points before Carleton pulled away with a 74-61 win.
Carleton was dominant in rebounding, ending the game with 48 rebounds, while their overall season average is 44 per game.
Ejim credited the coaching staff for the win.
“They don’t ever hesitate or stop telling us to rebound hard and we know that’s what we do best, and we know that’s what’s going to win us games,” he said. “So the coaching staff is just pushing us every single day to just continue to rebound.”
