Saturday, 26 January 2008

Ravens Remain Undefeated

#1 Carleton (22-0, 16-0) 70, #7 Ottawa (19-6, 13-3) 66 6'7" Aaron Doornekamp hit a clutch turnaround with under 3 minutes to play, giving the Ravens a lead they would never relinquish and later 6'4" Ryan Bell hit a big 3 with the shot clock winding down and about 30 seconds remaining to give the Ravens a 5 point cushion as Carleton captured the Capital Hoops Classic in front of over 9,100 fans at Scotiabank Place. The game was sluggish for the most part until an exciting stretch midway through the fourth quarter when the teams exchanged big baskets as finally both teams were able to play their first fives together. During the flurry, 5'10" sophomore Mike Kenny hit a pair of threes while 6'4" Josh Gibson-Bascombe finally got going, finding 6'3" Sean Peter with a slick look for a layup and then feeding 6'3" Donnie Gibson for a three, who was clutch from downtown for Ottawa. Ryan Bell did a tremendous job on Gibson-Bascombe, forcing him into a 2 for 15 shooting night but Gibson picked up the slack, with a team-high 19 points including 3 for 7 from beyond the arc. The Gee-Gees jumped out of the gate to lead 10-1 as Peter (18 points, 5 rebounds) got free and 6'9" Dax Dessureault had a pair of slick feeds to 6'5" David Labentowicz for a layup and Gibson for a three. However, both Dessureault and Labentowicz picked up two fouls midway through the first quarter. The Ravens were able to claw their way back behind Doornekamp (20 points, 10 rebounds) and great work on the offensive glass (19 offensive rebounds). The Ravens went on a 19-5 run to lead by five with 5 1/2 minutes left in the first half and with their two bigs on the bench, things looked bleak for Ottawa. But 6'5" Nemanja Baletic (7 points, 5 rebounds) produced off the bench. Dessureault played through his two but then picked up his third midway through the second quarter and was limited to 23 minutes on the night. Carleton again got a gritty effort from 6'3" Stuart Turnbull who worked hard for his 14 points and 5 rebounds. But when it counted down the stretch, Doornekamp, Bell and Kenny made plays and the Ravens remained undefeated.

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