#1 Carleton 93, #9 Toronto 73 The game had playoff level intensity from the opening tip however Ravens depth, Blues foul trouble plus several missed free throws at key times and another outstanding performance by 6'6" Tyson Hinz allow the Ravens to win comfortably. The action around Toronto's burly 6'6" Andrew Wasik was in feature all night as on the second possession of the game, Wasik got caught up with 6'3" Elliott Thompson inside and with both players wrestling roughly within the confines of most observers rules, Wasik got caught for the second infraction, a solid takedown of Thompson as he tried to shake off the confines of a cleverly-placed chicken wing. Wasik sustained a small gash in his head, left briefly and returned with a bandage around his head and the tone of play in the post for the night was set.
Hinz (29 points, 13 rebounds, 4 assists) again displayed his creative finishes around the rim using guile, quickness and both hands. But the growing part of his game is his passing and decision-making, primarily from the high post, allowing Dave Smart another option to start his offense. Some have whispered the name Aaron Doornekamp relative to Hinz's emerging skill set and although there is merit and the end results are quickly becoming similar, there are some stark differences to their games.
The Blues survived an initial 8-2 Ravens run as Wasik (16 points on 6-9 shooting) was very difficult to deal with one-on-one inside especially when he got deep position - one of the few areas of possible weakness for Carleton is their interior "d" when presented with a strong, burly check who can finish. Toronto got it back to 3 late but then a late Carleton run built a 10 point lead after 1. Despite not getting to the foul line for the entire first half, the Blues stayed in the game on the strong long-range shooting of 6'1" Justin Holmes, who hit 3 consecutive threes in the second quarter, part of his 14 point performance (all in the first half). Still, Carleton finished the half strong went to halftime up 12.
Blues again hung around in the third, switching to a 2/3 zone for several possessions and creating some turnovers and one-and-done possessions that set up chances to get the game back to 8 or less. Unfortunately, Toronto was terrible at the foul line, leaving at least 7 third-quarter points on the stripe and as usually is the case, Ravens took that window of opportunity and built leads back up over 15. Leads were as large as 23 in a game that was in control for Carleton yet given the Blues tenacity for 40 minutes never ever in garbage time.
Thompson had 14 including 4 3's for the Ravens, who shot 13-32 overall from downtown. The Blues travel to Laurentian and York next weekend and with two wins should solidify their hold on second place while Carleton travels to Kingston to meet Queen's and RMC, in a battle of #1 vs. #42.
#2 UBC 87, Manitoba 72 Bisons came back late in the third to draw even after falling behind by double digits in the first half, holding the Birds to only 10 points in the third. It was a one point game midway through the fourth when a 7-0 run by UBC helped stretch the lead back to 10 and the Birds cruised from there. 6'7" Sean Maxwell made seven of eight attempts from beyond the arc to lead the Bisons with 25 points, while his team mate Kevin Oliver had a double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds. For UBC, Josh Whyte led the way with 24 points, while four other Thunderbirds also scored in double digits. Alex Murphy and Kamar Burke both had 14, while Brent Malish had 13 and Doug Plumb had 12. Box Score
#3 Trinity Western 74, Victoria 65 The Spartans gain an important sweep in a very tough place to play against a solid team as once again 6'5" Jacob Doerksen led the Spartans with 27 points and seven rebounds in an entertaining, back-and-forth game. Down 16 late in the third quarter, Vic battled to get it back to six late in the game but could come no closer and the Spartans closed it out on the foul line for a sweep of th weekend. "Tonight was an overall great team effort," commented TWU head coach Scott Allen. "It was more of a defensive battle tonight and our defence did an outstanding job in making adjustments and being accountable for their individual assignments." Tristan Smith of Los Angeles added 14 points and four assists for Trinity Western. Mike Berg led the Vikes with 21 points and 12 rebounds. Box Score
#4 Windsor 85, Brock 77 Trailing by 12 at the half and overcoming early foul troubles, the Lancers used a 32-15 run in the third quarter to re-take the lead in the fourth. Brock had one more push, using a 12-0 run to take a 68-65 lead. But 6'3" fifth-year guard Isaac Kuon showed why he has matured into one of Canada's top players with a clutch three that tied the game and the Lancers finished the game on a 20-9 run to defeat an improving Badger team that played without starting post Mark Gibson. Kuon led all scorers with 20 points, and Lien Phillip had a double-double with 12 points and 16 rebounds. The Badgers were led Cedric Kasongo with 17 points and Andrew Kraus with 16.
#5 Saskatchewan 100, Brandon 61 Jumping out to a 17 point first quarter lead, the Huskies never looked back in sweeping the Bobcats in the Wheat City as Rejean Chabot had 29 points including 11-12 from the free throw line. Box Score
#6 St. FX 94, UPEI 60 The X-Men led by 30 at the half in a dominating performance at home in Antigonish on Saturday afternoon. X travels to Acadia today to face the Axemen, who are coming off a win over Saint Mary's Huskies last night.
Dalhousie 93, #7 Cape Breton 79 6'9" Joe Schow put on a dominant performance with 26 points on 13-16 shooting and added 11 rebounds while 6'1" Simon Farine added 19 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists as the Tigers handed the Capers their first loss of the AUS regular season at DalPlex. Paris Carter had 21 to lead CBU (7-1). Box Score
#8 Concordia 69, UQAM 66 Coming off their tough loss at Laval, the Stingers star guard 6'2" Kyle Desmarais gave ConU the lead for good with a jumper with just over a minute to play, then scored again with about 30 seconds left to push the lead to three and the Stingers survived a last second 3 attempt to win at home. After Jesse Rodney-Memette gave Citadins a one-point lead with 1 1/2 minutes left with a pair of free-throws, Desmarais did what he's done all season for the Stingers, giving his team the lead for good with a jumper. The game had 13 ties and numerous lead changes. UQAM grabbed their biggest lead at 10 after a 14-4 run late in the second but the Stingers went to work on a run led again by Desmarais to lead by 7 midway through the third. The game stayed within 4 points the rest of the way until the dramatic finish. Desmarais finished with 18 points on 9-13 shooting and 6'5" James Clark added 14 points and 4 boards for the Stingers while UQAM had 4 players in double figures. Box Score
2 comments:
Re Carleton v Toronto:
Hinz was simply outstanding, scoring 57 total points in two games this weekend.
Elliot Thompson was excellent as well, playing perhaps his best game of the OUA season, at least at home.
Thompson made 4/7 from 3 while grabbing 9 boards and was a physical presence despite drawing only one PF.
Cole Hobin's offensive stats alone made him a game star with 12 points, 5 assists, 4 rebounds, a block and a steal.
But one has to look at the other box score to see where Hobin's real value lies.
Alex Hill, Toronto's highly touted NCAA transfer, was rendered almost a complete non factor,
7 points on 2/8 shooting (0/4 from 3) 5 boards and a couple trips to the FT line was basically Hill's contribution in 27 minutes PT.
So ineffective was Hill, Coach Katz sat him down for long stretches in the second half even though he had only one foul.
It's frightening to see how Carleton is completely dominating everyone, including very good teams like Windsor and Toronto.
Compared to last year's squad, it is night and day.
Last year's Ravens were very good no doubt but looked vulnerable on many nights.
Last year's squad dropped two regular season games and could have lost at least a couple more.
Of course, they were stopped by Sask in the national semis, who exploited the Ravens' over dependence on McCleery.
This year's team hasn't even come close to a defeat, it's closest game against Laurier, the only team not to lose by double digits to Carleton.
Not to disparage Kevin McCleery, who maybe was Carleton's best true post player in the last 30 years, but his departure has not affected Carleton negatively one bit.
On the contrary, his graduation has forced Carleton's attack to become more diversified.
Of course, the addition of Phil Scrubb has opened up new opportunities for Dave Smart and has had a dramatic impact on the team's dynamic.
You know, I just really don't know what to make of T-Bear Upshaw.
He is a talent, certainly, and when he is on his game he can make X a truly formidable team.
But he has a selfish streak that really harms his game and, in turn, could prove ultimately to be a liability for his team.
For a 5th year player, T-Bear has some maturity issues.
Certainly nothing like the behaviour problems MAC endured last year with Ryan Christie but he seems to have trouble sometimes reigning in his emotions.
Coach K is getting a little tired of this.
One thing for certain....a coach like Smart would not tolerate such petulance for very long, if at all.
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