Carleton’s men’s basketball team is preparing for the regular season with an annual preseason tournament against teams from the United States.
In the tournament, the Ravens’ faced against the Murray State Racers, the Valparaiso Crusaders, the Baylor Bears, and the Texas Tech Raiders.
The Ravens fell to Murray State on Aug. 3 with a score of 63-59. Connor Wood led the Ravens’ scoring with 22 points. Gavin Resch, Guillaume Boucard, and Wood spent more than 30 minutes each on the court. Despite the loss, the Racers gave the Ravens credit for running such a dangerous offense.
“These teams can put you in some tough positions. Having so many three-point shooters on the court, we learned some things about ourselves,” said Racers coach Matt McMahon.
The Ravens’ next game, against the Valparaiso Crusaders on Aug. 13, was a 77-59 victory for the team. Guillaume Boucard scored 17 points for the Ravens, and point guard Kaza Kajami-Keane scored seven points and had eight assists.
“Carleton played great and really shot the ball well,” said Valparaiso head coach Bryce Drew. “But if they were in our gym—on our floor—I think it’d be a bit of a different story.”
Carleton bounced back against Baylor in a rematch, winning the Friday night game 79-73.
The score was close going into the fourth quarter. With only moments remaining and the Ravens down by one point, Connor Wood scored two huge shots and sank important free-throws towards the end of the game.
“It felt really good to get the momentum going back in our favour,” Wood said in a post-game media release. “We had a really close first game against Baylor, so to beat them in the second game felt rewarding.”
The Ravens lost 67-60 to Texas Tech, in their last game before a two-month break.
Carleton battled to win back momentum, but did not shoot enough in the fourth quarter to even out the score. Boucard contributed 21 points and five rebounds, and Kajami-Keane scored 14 points, alongside seven rebounds and seven assists.
Keenan Evans led Texas Tech’s scoring with 16 points and six assists. Norense Odiase had six points and Jordan Jackson scored 12.
“3-29 is about as bad as it gets shooting-wise,” Ravens coach Rob Smart said in a post-game press release. “Defensively if we had taken care of five or six really bad mistakes, we could turn this thing into an ugly win.”
Despite the loss, the fans cheered on a highlight dunk by Texas Tech player Jordan Jackson. The dunk was broadcasted on various websites, including the Bleacher Report.
The Ravens men’s basketball team will not return to the court until they host the House-Laughton tournament, beginning Oct. 16.
