Even after 77 days off, the Carleton Ravens men’s basketball team continued to steamroll their Ontario University Athletics (OUA) opposition this weekend, as they beat up on the Laurentian Voyageurs to improve to 8-0 on the season.
What was originally intended as only a month break over the holidays turned into an unprecedented layoff for the Ravens and other conference teams. Due to the spread of the Omicron variant, the OUA pushed back the start of the second half of the season, which was later pushed back further when the provincial government enacted new COVID-19 restrictions.
Returning on Friday night in Sudbury, Ont., the Ravens showed rust but emerged with a decisive 80-57 win. On Saturday, Carleton won 88-69.
The impact of only having two weeks to train after a two-month break was evident Friday. Carleton struggled with defensive transitions, often caught trailing behind the Laurentian ball handler.
“We just kind of lost focus,” head coach Taffe Charles said. “Fatigue, getting wrapped up in the game, just our straight execution just wasn’t where it needed to be and [we] gave up some easy opportunities.”
The Ravens outscored Laurentian 21-12 in the first quarter and held the Voyageurs off the board for almost four minutes to start the second. But over the next three minutes, Laurentian climbed back within four points of Carleton before the Ravens finally pulled away.
The Ravens leaned heavily on centre Biniam Ghebrekidan, as he racked up 35 minutes—the most of any Raven in a single game this season, matched by guard Alain Louis on Saturday. Ghebrekidan led the team with 18 points, a result of the work he put in over the break, Charles said.
“The guys who did some work and did well staying in shape over the break … they just [aren’t] as rusty,” Charles said. “Others probably are still trying to work themselves back into shape.”
While playing only 25 minutes on Saturday, Ghebrekidan put up 20 points, tied with guard Aiden Warnholtz for the team lead. Forward Lloyd Pandi put up 19 points and Louis had 11.
Carleton exploded in the first quarter, putting up 12 unanswered points in the final two minutes of the frame to outscore Laurentian 32-19.
Charles said he leaned heavily on his starters because he didn’t want to let the Voyageurs get momentum—which they almost did in the second quarter, when they outscored the Ravens and finished the half down only five points.
“I wanted to make sure our starters were there in the game [to] not let [Laurentian] get momentum,” Charles said. “You let them get the momentum in the third or fourth quarter, then it’s hard to stop that.”
Moving forward towards playoffs and nationals, the challenge for the undefeated Ravens is now preparation. After losing more than a month of the season, three games have been cut from Carleton’s schedule.
“For whatever reason, teams didn’t want to play us,” Charles said.
As a result, the Ravens have just five games left until the OUA playoffs begin on March 16. The condensed schedule, combined with missed practice time and fewer exhibition games before the season than usual, means Carleton is in the unfamiliar position of not being as prepared as they’d like to be.
“The biggest thing I’ve told the guys is, we’ve got to take the best advantage of our opportunities,” Charles said. “We’ve got to find a way to get something out of this game … We gotta try to use whatever we can to try to improve and not throw this game away.”
Next week, on Feb. 18, the Ravens will face the biggest challenge of their season so far in the Capital Hoops matchup against the uOttawa Gee-Gees. Until now, Carleton has faced teams in the bottom half of the standings, but like Carleton, uOttawa is undefeated at 8-0.
The only game the Ravens lost last season was at Capital Hoops. Charles said that while the coaching staff won’t be viewing the game differently, the players will be more dialed in for practice.
Still, Charles isn’t scared of losing that game.
“If we didn’t lose that game [in 2020], we wouldn’t have won at nationals,” Charles said, emphasizing the lessons learned. “If you play crappy and you lose, well, that’s perfect … Honestly, I look at it as an opportunity and it’s always a win-win.”
Featured image provided by John Sabourin/Action Event Photos.
