The Ravens men’s basketball team has been gearing up for the annual Can-Am shootout. The series will see the Ravens play against four NCAA teams at home over the course of August.
The shootout will consist of five games, with the Ravens playing against the University of Cincinnati Bearcats, the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) Rebels, and the University of Maryland Eastern Shore Hawks, as well as two games back-to-back against the South Dakota State University Jackrabbits.
The men’s basketball team is going into the series coming off an excellent 2017-18 season, in which the Ravens had a 27-game win streak until losing a game against the Ryerson Rams in this year’s U Sports Final 8 tournament, after which the team won bronze.
The Cincinnati Bearcats will be the first team that the Ravens play against. The Bearcats have also proven to be a force to be reckoned with their last season, pulling 31 wins, with their longest win streak being 16 games long.
As well, the Bearcats’ accumulated 61 wins in their last two seasons, ranks them fourth in the U.S.
The South Dakota Jackrabbits have established their growing strength as a team over the last decade, especially in their NCAA tournament prominence, which they have competed in the last three years.
The Ole Miss Rebels and the Maryland Eastern Shore Hawks both haven’t seen as much success over their last respective seasons, in comparison to South Dakota or Cincinnati.
In the 2017-18 season, both teams struggled considerably more in their games away from home, with the Rebels winning one out of 11 of their away games, and the Hawks winning none of the 18 away games they played last season.
Even with challenging American competition, Kaza Kajami-Keane, a Ravens men’s basketball alumnus and current guard for the Raptors 905, said he believes that the Ravens have what it takes to do well in this series.
“The team already has the skills to excel here, and they’ve showed it before,” Kajami-Keane said. “As long as they stick to their fundamentals and teamwork as well as Dave [Smart]’s coaching, they can shine in these games.”
Having played university basketball for both American and Canadian teams, Kajami-Keane has seen the differences in the two realms firsthand.
“Everything about American university sports is so much bigger than in Canada, but even with all the business and bigger crowds that they have, Carleton has a really excellent men’s basketball team that plays at an NCAA level,” he said. “This is another chance for them to show the states how good of a team they are.”
Last year’s Can-Am shootout had the Ravens playing teams such as St. Francis University and James Madison University.
The Ravens were successful in the tournament last year, finishing with five wins and one loss.
All games in the Can-Am Shootout will take place in the Raven’s nest from August 6 to 14.
