The Carleton Ravens men’s basketball team lost their first game of the season 61-51 in an upset to the Laurentian Voyageurs on Saturday at the Ravens’ Nest.
The game marked Laurentian’s first victory over Carleton since 2002.
“I didn’t like anything out of the performance today,” Ravens head coach Taffe Charles said after the game.
“It’s about urgency, [Laurentian] wanted to win a game, and we probably didn’t want to win a game as badly as they did.”
After blowing out the Nipissing Lakers 77-57 on their Halloween home opener, the Ravens started Saturday’s game strong, with Emanuel Milon’s jump shot and three-pointer giving Carleton a 5-0 lead in the first two minutes.
But after many missed chances and bad fouls, the Voyageurs (1-3) were able to crawl back and take the lead 16-14 at the end of the first quarter.
It was a close game all the way to the half, with neither team leading by more than two points for the last eight minutes of the second quarter.
Laurentian was ahead 27–26 at the half, but the Ravens were creating good opportunities.
In the third quarter, the Voyageurs began pulling away, going on a 16-point run in just five minutes.
The Ravens cut the deficit with an eight-point run of their own, making it 48-42 in favour of Laurentian heading into the final quarter.
Laurentian was able to outscore the Ravens 13-9 in the fourth quarter, including seven points from Voyageurs guard Brice Fandio to secure the win 61-51.
Fandio finished with 26 points, while the Ravens’ leading scorer, Milon had 19.
“I think I played alright, but at the end of the day, we didn’t get the result we wanted, so it doesn’t really matter to me,” Milon said.
“They just brought more energy than we did, and they outhustled us on rebounds and we lost a lot of battles.”
“[Milon] had 19 points, but on 17 shots, so that’s not very efficient,” Charles said.
“I thought there was some plays to be made, and it didn’t happen.”
The Ravens struggled from beyond the arc, shooting just 15.9 per cent and making only 7 of 44 three-point attempts.
Charles added that the Ravens are a newer team and are still growing as a group.
“We’re trying to find the right mix of kids to play, right lineups, and we’re still struggling with that.”
Switching Milon from centre to power forward is another change over last season.
“At the end of the day my role doesn’t change — my role is to help the team win any way I can,” Milon said.
The Ravens now hold a 2-1 record and are tied with the uOttawa Gee-Gees for first place in the OUA East division.
The Ravens will try to bounce back against the 1-2 Queens Gaels in Kingston on Nov. 8.
“There’s a lot of parity in this league, and if the other team tries harder than you, they’ll probably win,” Charles said.
Featured image by Photo by Charles Fortin
