CIS Hoops.ca

FOR TONIGHT'S CIS GAME PREVIEWS SEE BOTTOM OF TODAY'S ENTRY (3 games in the OUA West) also..... PLENTY OF COVERAGE FOR LAST NIGHT'S GAME FROM THE BANK (SEE BELOW) including cishoops.ca's story: 6'4" sophomore guard Josh Gibson-Bascombe's clutch elbow jumper with 4.7 seconds remaining lifting the #9 Ottawa Gee-Gees to a 64-62 victory over #1 ranked and previously-undefeated Carleton Ravens before 9,730 excited fans last night in the inaugural Capital Hoops Classic at Scotiabank Place in Kanata, ON. Gibson-Bascombe, who had 14 of his 22 points in the second half including several tough jumpers with the shot clock winding down and defenders in his face, got free with a sweet cross-over move in traffic, elevated and was true to give Ottawa their second win in the last 3 games against their arch rivals. The game outdrew the Churchill Bowl football game, hosted by the University of Ottawa in November, by over 2,000 fans.


The final two minutes were typical of many recent Ottawa Carelton affairs as Gee-Gees grabbed a six point lead with 2 minutes to play behind Gibson-Bascombe (9-17 from the field), who dropped a long 3 from the top of the bowl, but the Ravens weren't finished as 6'7" Aaron Doornekamp (14 points, 8 boards) posted up for a score and after an ensuing miss inside by Ottawa's Jermaine Campbell on a well-designed hi/low, the crowd began to sense a Raven comeback. Osvaldo Jeanty then travelled as the Gee-Gees double teamed a Carleton handoff but 6'2" Stu Turnbull picked Gee-Gees sophomore guard Willy Manigat and was fouled. Turnbull's pair of clutch free throws brought Carleton to within 2 at 62-60 with 1:15 to play. Curtis Shakespeare then missed again inside and, with the crowd on its feet, Turnbull made another great play, beating his man off the dribble and finding a wide open Doornekmap under the basket for a wide-open layup to tie the game with 32 seconds remaining. Ottawa then patiently ran their offence out of a time-out and Gibson-Bascombe shook free of Turnbull and knocked down the game winner in his first game ever against Carleton. (Recall Gibson-Bascombe missed both Carleton games last season with a broken wrist).

The game lacked flow for the first 8 minutes and when Jeanty fed 6'4" Jean-Emmaneul Jean-Marie, the Ravens led 11-6 culminating an 9-0 Carleton run and it appeared Ottawa was in trouble. But Coach Dave DeAveiro took a chance on a pair of little-used players in Manigat and 6'5" forward David Labentowicz and the pair did not disappoint as Manigat hit consecutive 3's as Carleton went underneath ball screens and Labentowicz had a tough lay-in inside, two strong defensive rebounds and an athletic shot block to keep things close. When Campbell hit his only shot of the game, a swished 3 from the right baseline Ottawa led 21-19 with 6 1/2 minutes remaining and the game had solid flow for the first time. When Gibson-Bascombe went coast-to-coast against Carleton pressure, the Gee-Gees had their largest lead at 32-27 and the Gee-Gees flattened out for him on the half's final play and again Gibson-Bascombe was true from 17 feet with Ottawa taking a 34-29 lead into halftime.

The Ravens came out of the intermission stone cold, not scoring in their first 5 possessions in the face of solid Ottawa "d" and one-and-done rebounding, a couple of which results in easy transition scores. When 5'11" Alex McLeod knocked down a 10 footer on the left baseline, the Gee-Gees had the largest lead of the game at 40-29 forcing a Carleton timeout. Raven coach Dave Smart then inserted little-used 6'4" forward Daron Leonard into the game and his impact was immediate as he scored in the low block, then had a putback and an old fashioned 3 point play, keying an 11-1 run that included some free throws from 4 consecutive Ottawa fouls. Manigat broke the run with a layup but then Jeanty (14 points on 4-12 shooting) knocked down a long 3 and when Doornekamp scored inside and was fouled Carleton had its first lead since mid-way through the first half at 46-45. The teams traded baskets until Gibson-Bascombe really got started as he hit consecutive buckets including a tough fade away from 18' to give Ottawa a 57-53 lead with 4:49 to play, setting up the wild finish.


The game was extremely well played at a Nationals-like intensity for the most part and the atmosphere in the spacious Scotiabank Place was tremendous. It was an incredible first attempt at staging a big-time basketball game and in my opinion passed with flying colours.

Doornekamp and Jeanty led Carleton with 14 apiece while Leonard had 9 in 15 minutes all in the second half. Turnbull added 8 points and 6 rebounds and some clutch play down the stretch for Carleton, which went 20-24 from the line and outrebounded Ottawa 32-21. The Ravens committed an uncharacteristic 16 turnovers in the game including 4 each for Ryan Bell and Jeanty. For the Gee-Gees, 6'3" Sean Peter had a solid first half, scoring 9 of his 13 points including a three and he also hit a pair of clutch free throws with 3:13 remaining to restore a 4 point Ottawa lead. Manigat finished with 14 as well, including 3 of 4 from three point land, part of a 6-11 effort from three for the Gee-Gees against only 4-18 for the Ravens. Ottawa also shot only 61% from the foul line (8-13) and committed 21 fouls as against only 13 for Carleton. But the story was Gibson-Bascombe, who made several clutch shots at money time in the game.

OTTAWA 64 (Gibson-Bascombe 22, Peter 13, McLeod 5, Campbell 3, Dessureault 0, Manigat 13, Gibson 0, Labentowicz 4, Shakespeare 4) CARLETON (Bell 6, Turnbull 8, Jean-Marie 4, Doornekamp 14, Jeanty 14, Kenny 0, Leonard 9, Saunders 5, K. McCleery 2). Halftime: Ottawa 34, Carleton 29. Attendance: 9,730.

Other coverage of last night's game

Blog buddy Neate Sager "Out of Left Field" with a wonderful article that covers some of the unsung heroes from last night's game Record Crowd, Great Finish as Gee-Gees Edge Ravens as well as his LIVE! BLOG

OTTAWA CITIZEN COLUMNIST Wayne Scanlan reports on the success of last night's Capital Hoop Classic: Front page of sports news with large photo Basketball in the Bank: Hoops Test Passes with Flying Colours

OTTAWA CITIZEN'S WAYNE KONDRO reports on last night's game Gee-Gees Bring Down Ravens in a Classic and another story describing the atmosphere and buzz around Ottawa for the Capital Hoops Classic Promising sign of basketball things to come

OTTAWA SUN'S DON BRENNAN reports GG's buzzer beater a Classic

GLOBE & MAIL'S DAVE NAYLOR reports from Ottawa College game gets record crowd and fantastic finish


8:00 pm Guelph (6-7) at Windsor (10-3) The reeling Gryphs have lost 3 in a row and appear to getting hurt defensively with teams getting inside which historically was difficult to accomplish against Guelph's "d". Although Guelph shot very well at Western, especially from behind the arc, an inability to score when they need to down the stretch has also plagued the Gryphs recently. Going into Windsor and the St. Denis Center where a controversial two point loss to Carleton is the Lancers only blemish against CIS teams, Guelph needs a superlative effort to break their losing streak. Look for a tough, aggressive game from both teams that could be foul-filled depending upon how it is called as both teams do not shy away from physical play. Windsor, 4-1 in January and coming home after a three game road trip play only their second home game after the holidays. After a terrible shooting and rebounding effort at Brock last Wednesday night, the Lancers got back on track at Waterloo with a comfortable win over the Warriors on Saturday. Here is a preview from the Windsor Star Lancers Pound the Boards

8:00 pm Brock (7-6) at Waterloo (6-8) After maybe the worst late-game meltdown in the Ken Murray era at Brock, this is a game that will test the Badgers mental toughness and ability to bounce back from adversity. The Badgers got a great second half from 6'6" Jesse Tipping and his emergence down the stretch could give the Badgers another player to depend on in key situations. The Warriors, 3-3 in January, come off a loss at home against Windsor during which fifth-year post Michael Davis was basically shut down and his presence inside against Brock could be a difference-maker in a game where a Waterloo loss will put them deeper into seventh place with 4 of their last 6 games after this away from the PAC. Audio for this game is available for via Waterloo campus radio (CKMS) Click here for Waterloo audio broadcast

8:00 pm Laurier (6-7) at McMaster (7-6) After a six game league losing streak briding November and early January dropped the Hawks into 7th place, fifth-year point guard Omar Miles broke the streak with an end-to-end Tyus Edney-like take to break the streak and, after a pair of weekend wins in Thunder Bay, suddenly the Hawks are right back into the thick of even hosting a home playoff game. Laurier will have to get more production inside from their array of freshman talent and will need Miles to have a big game defensively against the OUA's leading scorer Martin Ajayi. The Marauders had the big comeback Saturday against Brock and it partially hid the fact that they gave up 100 points, the most a Joe Raso team has given up in recent memory. Coming off the emotion of such a big win, Mac needs to stay on track against an improving and more confident Laurier group. Audio for this game is available via McMaster radio 93.3 CFMU Click here for McMaster audio broadcast with the exciteable Steve Clark

TOP TEN VOTING FOR THIS WEEK (Compiled prior to the Ottawa/Carleton game)

Courtesy of the NABCC ...

NABCC Top Ten
January 23, 2007

LW Votes
-- -----
1. Carleton (41) #1 492 votes
2. Brandon #3 448 votes
3. Concordia #5 390 votes
4. St. Francis Xavier #2 359 votes
5. Windsor #4 312 votes
6. UBC #6 292 votes
7. Cape Breton #8 275 votes
8. Victoria #9 200 votes
9. Ottawa #7 163 votes
10. Alberta #11 112 votes
11. Queen's #14 51 votes
12. Acadia #13 21 votes
13. Brock #12 18 votes
York #10 18 votes
15. Toronto NR 12 votes