The Carleton Ravens men’s basketball team have improved to 4-0 against American competition, beating the South Dakota State Jackrabbits 113-53 Aug. 10, friday night and 83-64 August 12 Sunday afternoon.
The Ravens dominated the first quarter of the first game, which led Brandon Key, the South Dakota State point guard, to take a flagrant foul.
Ravens star players Eddie Ekiyor, and Munis Tutu took over both games. Ekiyor scored 14 points, and collected five rebounds, while Tutu scored a game- high 18 points, six rebounds, and six assists.
While the score got more out of reach, Ravens head coach, Dave Smart went to his bench players.
Smart’s choice turned out to be the right decision, as the bench players shot multiple three-pointers and were able to create defensive stops. Eleven Ravens players had at least three points in the game, resulting in Carleton winning by 60 points.
“It is pretty awesome to be on the court against these high-level teams,” Aiden Warnholtz, a first-year player on the team, said. “Everyone is so much bigger, and stronger than when I played high school, it is pretty crazy.”
South Dakota State caught onto something early in the second game, of the back-to-back.
The Jackrabbits brought more intensity into the game, and were far more aggressive, leading to the game being much closer than the first match. The Ravens led by two points at halftime before Ekiyor and Tutu once again took over.
Tutu finished just shy of a triple-double with 15 points, seven rebounds, and nine assists, while Ekiyor had a double-double with 35 points and 10 rebounds.
The two stars surge opened up the flood gates, and the Ravens cruised to another massive victory.
“The [Jackrabbits] are more athletic [than some teams in U Sports] and every game you have to come and work hard, so whether the teams are in the states or in [U Sports], every game is a good game,” Ekiyor said.
The Ravens were excited to rise to 4-0 in the Can-Am shootout, but the team is seeing this as no more than an opportunity to prepare for the season ahead.
“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,” Warnholtz said.
The Ravens came up short in last year’s national championships, winning bronze and are using this experience to get focused on being at the top of university men’s basketball again.
“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.”
