Thursday 20 August 2009

Carleton routs Towson

If Tuesday night is any indication, 6'5" third year swing man Cole Hobin appears to be finally fulfilling the promise that his potential brought after a solid high school career in Ottawa plus one season at Eastern Commerce Prep in Toronto. Hobin, who had an uneven first two seasons while adjusting to the pace of practice and intricacies of game execution at Carleton, has been touted by many close to the Carleton program as having a tremendous summer and his play was described as "dominating" in scrimmages and practices leading up to Carleton hammering of Towson on Tuesday, in which the Ravens jumped out to a 16-2 lead and coasted. Graduation of Stu Turnbull, Aaron Doornekamp and Rob Saunders took away the vast majority of decision-making for the Ravens but with Hobin's progress, for one night anyway, it looks like Carleton may have found their third guy with Mike Kenny and Kevin McCleery. For those who didn't hear, on Monday night, a team of ex-Ravens led by Paul Larmand and Osvaldo Jeanty, who combined for 52 points, also knocked off Towson.

Darren Desaulniers article in Wednesday's Ottawa Citizen Ravens tough enough in win over Towson

They certainly weren't the Kansas Jayhawks, or even the shell of the 2008 U.S. national champion Jayhawks the Ravens faced last Labour Day weekend, but the Towson Tigers provided a good test Tuesday night for the Carleton Ravens.

In their first game since winning their sixth Canadian Interuniversity Sport basketball title in seven years, the Ravens began life without Stuart Turnbull, Rob Saunders and Aaron Doornekamp with a 95-83 exhibition win over the Tigers at the Ravens' Nest.

The win came a day after the Ravens alumni defeated the Tigers 69-59 at the Ravens' Nest in a game that featured Turnbull, Saunders and one of the Ravens' all-time greats, Osvaldo Jeanty.

"We certainly have talent, but what we lose the most in those three guys is constant toughness," Ravens coach Dave Smart said.

"I think we showed some toughness (Tuesday), and we've got to bring it on a consistent basis. We played hard. We got after it and we battled it. Whether we can bring it every day is the question."

Tuesday night, it was third-year guard Cole Hobin and first-year forward Tyson Hinz who had 10 and eight points, respectively, at the half to give the Ravens a 36-32 lead at the break.

The Ravens stormed out to a 16-2 lead before the Tigers got their bearings and made a game of it.

Hobin finished with 23 while Hinz had 18. Josh Thornton had a game-high 28 points in a losing effort for the Tigers.

Smart thinks Hinz has what it takes to be great.

"Tyson has got a chance to be great.

"He has got to get bigger and stronger, but his instincts are so good and he understands the game. He's a kid playing against men, but his instincts are so good he tends to survive because of it."

The Ravens will play host to St. John's University Sept. 6 while the women will be home against the University of Vermont Aug. 27 and Fairleigh Dickson University Aug. 28 in exhibition play.

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