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OUA Final: Ravens defend Wilson Cup title with 71-52 victory over Lancers
Photo by: Adam Dietrich/the Charlatan
OTTAWA - The Carleton University Ravens men’s basketball
team claimed their third straight Wilson Cup Saturday night,
defeating the University of Windsor Lancers, 71-52, in the OUA
final at the Ravens’ Nest.
The Ravens took an early lead in the first quarter playing focused
and composed. It was clear that the Ravens had a defensive focus
coming into this game, dominating the defensive rebounds and taking
charges. On the offensive end, the Ravens went through veteran
forward Kevin McCleery (Ottawa) who was a force to be reckoned with
in the paint. Along with McCleery, the Ravens’ other scoring
option was Cole Hobin (Ashton, Ont.), who put up eight points in
the first quarter alone. The Ravens, with solid defensive effort
and good scoring opportunities on the offensive end, finished the
quarter with a 22-11 lead.
On the offensive end in the second quarter, McCleery was being
double and triple teamed, opening up perimeter opportunities for
the home team. On the other end however, the Ravens were one step
too slow on defensive rotations, giving the Lancers time to get
shots up and chip away at Carleton’s lead. With three minutes
remaining in the quarter, the Lancers brought the game within six
points with perimeter shooting. This was the closest the Lancers
would get before the Ravens took a timeout to regroup and refocus
on defence.
Coming out of the timeout, Hobin scored a three-pointer, giving
Carleton a nine-point lead. But on the next possession on the other
end of the floor, fourth year Lancer forward Isaac Kuon
(Mississauga, Ont.) responded, making it a basket-for-basket game
to the halftime buzzer. The Ravens retained a narrow 37-32 lead
despite scoring six points less than the Lancers in the
quarter.
Coming out of the halftime break, the Ravens started with a great
defensive possession followed by third year guard Elliott Thompson
(Fredericton, NB) getting an offensive rebound and put back. But
the Lancers responded on the other end, staying within reach of the
Ravens’ lead. Windsor started to look winded by the end of
the quarter however and the Ravens put up more points, giving them
the biggest lead of the game, 59-46, going into the last quarter of
play.
The Lancers seemed to have lost focus in the final quarter and
Carleton pulled away with effective inside play and inside-out
combinations. On the defensive end, the Ravens were able to shut
down Windsor, keeping the Lancers to eight points as Carleton
came away with the 71-52 win.
The Ravens’ ability to shut down Kuon and veteran forward
Nigel Johnson-Tyghter (Brampton, Ont.), who have averaged 18.09 and
12.86 points per game respectively, was a big contributor to their
success. Carleton was also extremely efficient on the boards,
out-rebounding the Lancers an impressive 47-17. They had 11
second-chance opportunities on offensive rebounds while keeping the
Lancers to two.
The Ravens’ success came from a number of different players,
led by McCleery who had a double-double, notching a game-high 24
points and 10 rebounds to conclude his last game at the
Ravens’ Nest. Teammate Hobin had a great game, playing solid
defence on Kuon and contributing 20 points of his own. Thompson
added to the victory with a game-high 18 rebounds while scoring
seven points.
The Lancers were led by Kuon, who had 14 points while teammate
Smyth was the only other Lancer in double digits with 10
points.
The two teams could very well match up one last time this season in
the upcoming CIS Final 8 Men's Basketball National Championship,
which will be held at the Scotiabank Place March 19-21.
Rebounds: CU= 47, UW= 17
Score by periods
Carleton
22 15
22 12
71
Windsor
11 21
12
8
52
For further information on CU Ravens Recreation & Athletics
contact Christina Atallah at 613-293-5368 email:
christina_atallah@carleton.ca
www.goravens.ca
Source:
Ravens sports info
