The Carleton Ravens men’s basketball team defeated the Laurentian Voyageurs 93-48 in their first game of the season. Newcomers Kaza Kajami-Keane from Cleveland State and Ryan Ejim from York University headed the team.
This year’s Ravens saw Rob Smart take over as the interim coach while Dave Smart took a sabbatical. Brothers Philip and Thomas Scrubb also graduated, leaving a big hole to be filled.
Coach Rob Smart, previously an associate coach with the Ravens, is Dave’s nephew and has been with the team for 10 years.
“We still have a lot of the same fundamental principles and we just adjust to the personnel we have,” Smart said.
Fourth-year guard Gavin Resch said “the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree” when describing the coaching change.
“They have a lot of the same principles, and that’s kind of Carleton’s culture, what we’re trying to keep here,” he said.
Before the game, a tribute to Joseph Scanlon, professor emeritus of the Carleton School of Journalism and Communication, was held at centre court. He was a longtime supporter of the Ravens and passed away on May 2, 2015. The first T. Joseph Scanlon Award for Academic Excellence was given to Ejim, a fourth-year law student.
Both teams started off slowly, with neither side scoring in the first two and a half minutes. The Ravens could not get off to their usual rolling start, and the Voyageurs kept the Ravens close. The quarter ended with the Ravens up 19-15 after Raven Sheldon McIntosh, a second-year guard, hit a corner three to close out the quarter.
The many Ravens turnovers kept the Voyageurs in the game in the second. After a timeout with just under seven minutes to go, the Ravens found their stride, with Kajami-Keane leading the way. Kajami-Keane had all 12 of his points in the first half, allowing the Ravens to be up 39-25 at half.
Ejim scored eight straight points for the Ravens to start the third quarter. A putback slam by Connor Wood and a three by Gavin Resch made it a 13-0 run to start the third quarter, and the Ravens never looked back. The Ravens defence was on point in the second half, and Ejim led the way with three monstrous blocks.
“In the first half we were on the wrong foot, so at halftime we went to the locker room and tried to work together on the right one,” Kajami-Keane said.
“We didn’t come the way we wanted, but we came together as a team and went on a good run,” Ejim said.
The Voyageurs were outscored 37-8 in the third. Smart opted to give his younger players some run in the fourth, and the game was finished by the Ravens reserves. Mitchell Wood, Stanley Mayambo, and Marcus Anderson all scored in double figures off the bench.
The Ravens finished the game up by 45, with a final score of 93-48. Ejim finished with 18 points, nine rebounds, and three blocks to lead the way.
