After five games against American teams in the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) competition in the annual Can-Am Shootout this past month, the Carleton Ravens men’s basketball team left with five wins and zero losses.
The Ravens beat each team by a wide margin with scores ranging from 20 to 60 points. Carleton’s average win margin in the tournament was 30.2 points.
The University of Cincinnati Bearcats rank 12th in the NCAA USA Today coaches’ poll, but they were no match for Carleton in the Shootout’s first game. The Ravens beat the Bearcats by a score of 86-67.
Following the first blowout victory, the Ravens beat the University of Mississippi Rebels. The Rebels finished last place in the Southeastern conference of the 2017-18 season, and did not fare well against the Ravens, losing 81-63.
Cincinnati and Mississippi were not the only teams that struggled. The South Dakota State Jackrabbits finished first place in the NCAA Summit Basketball standings, but stood no chance against Carleton, as the team lost two consecutive games against the Ravens by a score of 113-51 and 83-64.
The Ravens finished up the Can-Am tournament with another blowout win, 98-55 over the University of Maryland Eastern Shore Hawks. The Hawks finished second-last in the NCAA Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference.
In these five games, the Ravens were able to score 461 points in total, while only allowing 300 to be scored against them.
These games against American NCAA teams were an opportunity for many rookies to play their first games as Ravens.
“When you can play great competition like this early in the season, it gets you ready for the other great teams we are going to play down the road,” said Aiden Warnholtz, a rookie player on the Ravens men’s basketball team.
Rebounding was the key to the Ravens’ success. Carleton grabbed 179 total rebounds in the five games, while only allowing the opposing teams to collect 41 less in all, at 138.
Raven power forward Eddie Ekiyor and point guard Munis Tutu dominated the tournament, scoring a combined 182 points in five games.
While the Can-Am Shootout was ending, the Ryerson University Rams were fortunate enough to get to play one of the premiere NCAA teams, Duke University, on Aug. 15. The Rams were defeated by a score of 86-67.
“We’d drive to Montreal or Toronto—we would have played [Duke] wherever they wanted to play,” Dave Smart, the Ravens’ head coach, said in an interview with TSN 1200 Ottawa.
Although the competition was not at the Ravens’ level, the players saw this opportunity as a chance to prepare for their upcoming season, after winning the bronze medal at U Sports basketball nationals last season.
“We want to focus on who we are,” Ekiyor said. “We want to focus on our tournament. We dropped last year, and we want to come back and win our own tournament.”
The Ravens’ next preseason game is against the University of Guelph Gryphons on Oct. 12.
—With files from Tim Austen
Photo by Aaron Hemens
