Munis Tutu didn’t wait a second. He grabbed the pass from Lloyd Pandi, pumped his foot around Xavier Ochu and let go. In a moment, the legacy of the Carleton Ravens — head coach Taffe Charles, former longtime coach Dave Smart and the entirety of the Carleton bench—erupted. The Ravens were up 68-65.
One minute and 37 seconds later, when the final buzzer of the university basketball season rang through TD Place, it was mayhem on the court. For the 15th time in 18 years, Carleton had won the U Sports men’s basketball gold medal.
The Ravens had relied on their deep bench all season, but through three quarters against the Dalhousie Tigers in their eventual 74-65 win, Carleton was in the dust.
The Tigers effectively controlled Carleton’s rebound game—they had 23 through three quarters, compared to Dalhousie’s 31—and limited their turnovers.
In the second quarter, the Ravens scored only 11 points. After Tiger Sascha Kappos sank an electric buzzer-beating three to end the first half, Dalhousie led by 14 points one minute into the third quarter. Carleton had missed four of their six free throws in the first half.
“We break games into five minute segments and we did a great job in the first half,” said a dejected Dalhousie head coach Rick Plato.
In the third quarter, things changed. After missing 10 of their 12 three-point shots, the Ravens made only one three-point shot in the entire quarter. They rattled off a 9-2 run, with Biniam Ghebrekidan scoring 10 points. By the end of the quarter, Carleton was down just 54-50.
In the fourth quarter, within a minute, Pandi had tied the game. With the game knotted up 65-65 with 1:45 to go, Tutu pumped his leg, raised his arms and sunk his three.
The Tigers didn’t score again.
“We knew what we were doing wrong,” said Isiah Osborne, the men’s championship MVP who scored 12 points against Dalhousie. “We knew if we keep pushing the pace, keep fighting, keep chipping away at it, obviously a good result [would come] from it.”
In last year’s championships, Dalhousie lost in the semifinals to Carleton, a tight match that ended with a similar comeback. This year, the Tigers took it a step further, making it to their first ever gold medal game on the backs of a 19-1 season and Atlantic University Sport (AUS) MVP Keevan Veinot.
“It’s like groundhog day,” said Plato. “It’s the way we were last year, up at the end of the third. . . I can’t say we did everything we wanted to do.”
Alex Carson, a first team All-Star for the Tigers, exploded for 20 points, while Veinot put up 11.
“You gotta play 40 minutes,” said Plato. “We maybe played 32 and maybe about eight minutes where it just wasn’t there … games come down to just a couple plays.”
“Hopefully someday soon we’ll get to the next step,” said Plato.
For the Ravens, this win capitalizes a season unlike any other. With new head coach Charles at the helm after 20 years of Smart, Carleton’s program sat in a position that could have evolved into any number of paths.
The season took the dominant route, as Carleton rolled over their opponents with a 21-1 record. In the OUA, where the Ravens won their third consecutive championship, Charles won Coach of the Year and Pandi took home Rookie of the Year.
Through the Final 8, Carleton defeated the Calgary Dinos 82-66 and ran over Western with a 27-point margin in the semifinals. On Sunday, the legacy rolled on.
“I remember winning the first national championship in 2002-2003,” said Charles, who was an assistant coach for the men’s team that season. “I remember telling Dave [Smart], ‘I got a ring. We’re never getting one of these again.’ It was so difficult.”
“And here we are, years later now, with 15,” said Charles. “It’s just a crazy ride.”
Feature image by Spencer Colby.
