It was a dominant display of speed and skill as the Carleton Ravens men’s basketball team blew out the University of Ontario Ridgebacks [UOIT] 119-58 on Jan. 17.
Despite playing undersized, as they have for most of the season, Carleton’s starters stormed out strong, fuelled by silky shooting from Stanley Mayambo, who had 12 points in the first quarter.
The tempo didn’t let up when the bench tagged in, as guard Aiden Warnholz scored eight straight points, with two three-pointers as Carleton’s full court press defence—forcing nine turnovers—and smooth outside shooting proved too much for the Ridgebacks. The first quarter closed 44-18.
“A very impressive team we played tonight,” said UOIT coach Greg Francis after the game.
“They have some answers and we have a lot more questions, and we’re trying to figure it out.”
The game quieted down for the remainder, Carleton maintaining the distance between the two teams through lights-out shooting from Mayambo—9-13 from three—and Alain Louis, who had a career high 20-points.
“We’ve gotta be a lot better, obviously it was a big blowout but we gotta be better, more precise,” said Mayambo, who finished . “We’ve obviously got a lot of film to watch and make sure we don’t have those drop offs.”
The next night on Jan. 18, the Ravens added another win to bring their season record to 15-0 after beating the Queen’s University Gaels 98-70. Besides the Ravens, only the University of Calgary Dinos hold a perfect record in U Sports competition.
Unlike the earlier game, it was a hard-fought team effort from the Ravens as the offensive power was split between multiple players. Louis (18 points), Lloyd Pandi (18) and Isiah Osborne (17) lead the way in scoring.
At the start of the game, Carleton was quick to take the lead in the first quarter, finishing 15-4. Eventually, the Gaels found a way to work into the game and the second quarter saw the visitors put up 26 points compared to the hosts’ 31.
At halftime, the Ravens led 46-30.
The surge was good, but what made the difference was Carleton’s ability to capitalize on the lack of discipline from Queen’s.
They Ravens grabbed 20 points from 25 on the foul line, recording an 80 per cent success rate. Osborne led the team going for eight-for-10.
The Ravens currently rank as the number one team in U Sports competition and will have a target on their back looking ahed to nationals. But the team is used to the pressure and still understands what is expected of them according to head coach Taffe Charles.
“There’s nothing that we’re not used to as players or as coaching staff,” said Charles.
“There’s a lot of responsibilities with wearing Carleton on your shirt … that’s what they signed up for, that’s why they’re here.”
The team will now prepare for a rivalry match up in Toronto against the University of Toronto Varsity Blues and the Ryerson University Rams on Jan. 24 and 25 as they look to maintain their perfect record.
With files from Tim Austen and Reanna Julien. Feature image by Tim Austen.
