SEMIFINAL #2 CIS championship: Ravens oust champs, return to national final
Photo credit Nick Pearse
HALIFAX (CIS) – Reigning CIS player of the year Tyson Hinz
scored a tournament-high 32 points as the second-seeded Carleton
University Ravens beat the defending national champion Saskatchewan
Huskies 95-83 in the second semifinal of the Final 8 men’s
basketball championship, Saturday night, at the Halifax Metro
Centre.
Championship website: http://english.cis-sic.ca/championships/mbkb
With the win, the Ravens avenged an 86-82 loss to Saskatchewan in
last year’s semifinals in Ottawa and return to the
championship game for the seventh time in nine years. They will try
to capture the seventh W.P. McGee Trophy in program history when
they face the No. 5 Trinity Western Spartans Sunday at 5 p.m.
Atlantic Time.
The victory improved Carleton’s overall record to 33-1
against CIS competition this season, and extended their winning
streak at the Metro Centre to 19 straight games since a 78-77
quarter-final loss to McMaster in 2001. The Ravens have claimed the
last five McGee Trophies contested in Halifax from 2003 to 2007,
and captured their sixth CIS banner in 2009 in the nation’s
capital.
“We’ve had great success in this building over the
years but this is a different team, we only have one player left
(Mike Kenny) since our last win here,” said Carleton bench
boss Dave Smart, the four-time CIS coach of the year.
“It was a solid effort tonight. We were much improved from
last night,” added Smart, whose team got all it could handle
from No. 7 Concordia in the quarter-final round before prevailing
73-66.
Hinz, who was named CIS MVP in only his second university season on
Thursday, took over the game in the fourth quarter as Carleton
entered the final period holding a slim 66-63 advantage. The
6-foot-6 forward from Ottawa scored 13 points in the last 10
minutes, most of them on a devastating spin move inside, en route
to player-of-the-game honours.
“That loss in last year’s semis has been at the back of
our of minds for 365 days. It feels awesome to beat them in the
same round this time around,” said Hinz, who was also named
game MVP on Friday following a 19-point effort.
“They’re a great team and they never quit tonight. It
was a tough win.”
Three other Ravens scored in double digits including CIS rookie of
the year Philip Scrubb of Richmond, B.C., with 17 points, Cole
Hobin of Ashton, Ont., with 13, and Elliot Thompson of Fredericton,
with a dozen.
For Saskatchewan, the dynamic duo of Rejean Chabot of Saskatoon and
first-team all-Canadian Jamelle Barrett of Rancho Cordova,
California, led the way with 28 and 26 points, respectively. No
other Huskies player had more than eight.
“Give Carleton a lot of credit. We had a game plan and they
defended it. They have a very good, very well-coached team,”
said Saskatchewan interim head coach Barry Rawlyk, who was an
assistant a year ago when the Huskies captured the first McGee
Trophy in school history.
Scrubb gave Carleton a 12-9 lead four minutes into the contest with
a three-point shot and the Ravens stayed ahead for the rest of the
first half.
A Kyle Smendziuk layup at the buzzer completed a dominating 27-16
opening period for the OUA finalists.
The experienced Huskies didn’t panic however and climbed all
the way back to within one point midway through the second frame,
at 31-30, on a pair of Chabot free throws.
Carleton responded with a 7-0 run capped off by a Scrubb
three-pointer to restore an eight-point advantage.
The score was 44-39 Ravens at the end of a first half that featured
four players in double digits in scoring – two on each side
– including Hinz (14) and Scrubb (10) for Carleton and Chabot
(16) and Barrett (12) for Saskatchewan.
Carleton made six of 18 shots from beyond the arc in the opening 20
minutes (33.3%), while Saskatchewan was only good on one of eight
attempts from long distance (12.5%).
The Huskies once again cut the deficit to only one point, at 44-43,
early in the third quarter following a Chabot layup but the Ravens
went on another run, this one of eight straight points, to go up
52-43.
Saskatchewan made it a one-point affair twice more before the end
of the third, including two Barrett free throws that reduced the
Carleton advantage to 64-63 with 58 seconds on the clock.
It was 66-63 Carleton after 30 minutes.
Chabot had a chance to finally tie it early in the fourth but
missed his second attempt from the charity stripe, which left the
Huskies trailing 70-69.
The Ravens went up by eight points, at 83-75, with three minutes to
go thanks to a long three by Elliot Thompson and were never really
in danger after that point.
Saskatchewan was hurt by poor free throw shooting in the final 10
minutes, missing no less than seven attempts from the line. For the
game, the Huskies were 28 for 45 on foul shots (62.2%).
The Canada West finalists also never found their groove from
three-point line finishing at 14.3 per cent (3 for 21). Barrett was
only two for 12 from long distance, while Chabot missed his four
attempts.
STAT LEADERS
Carleton
Points: Tyson Hinz (32), Philip Scrubb (17), Cole Hobin
(13), Elliot Thompson (12)
Rebounds: Kyle Smendziuk (11), Tyson Hinz (9), Philip Scrubb (7),
Cole Hobin (7)
Assists: Elliot Thompson (7), Philip Scrubb (5)
Player of the game: Tyson Hinz
Saskatchewan
Points: Rejean Chabot (28), Jamelle Barrett (26)
Rebounds: Michael Lieffers (12), Chris Unsworth (10)
Assists: Jamelle Barrett (5)
CHAMPIONSHIP
SCHEDULE & RESULTS (All times ATLANTIC TIME)
Friday, March 11
Quarter-final #1: UBC 96, Acadia 77
Quarter-final #2: Trinity Western 82, Lakehead 74
Quarter-final #3: Saskatchewan 91, Dalhousie 79
Quarter-final #4: Carleton 73, Concordia 66
Saturday, March 12
Consolation #1: Lakehead 75, Acadia 67
Consolation #2: Dalhousie 76, Concordia 65
Semifinal #1: Trinity Western 74, UBC 72
Semifinal #2: Carleton 95, Saskatchewan 83
Sunday, March 13
10:30 Consolation final (5th place): Lakehead vs. Dalhousie (SSN
Canada webcast)
13:15 Bronze medal game: UBC vs. Saskatchewan (SSN Canada
webcast)
17:00 Championship final: Trinity Western vs. Carleton (TSN2
– tape delayed to 19:00 AT)
-CIS-
