Carleton Reveals CIS Championship Banner, Blowout Western in the Ravens Nest
NPH Top Performers
Carleton
Elliot Thompson – Pts: 20 (6-8 3FG), Reb: 2, Ast: 3, Min: 22
Willy Manigat – Pts: 16 (4-9 3FG), Reb: 1, Ast: 4, Stl: 2, Min: 23
Western
Nathan DiLoreto – Pts: 15, Reb: 4, Ast:1, Min: 26
OTTAWA,ON- In front of a raucous home crowd, the Carleton Ravens flexed their muscle in a show of dominance and a reminder of why the defending champions are the team to beat in the CIS.
In a lop-sided affair, the Carleton Ravens defeated the Western Mustangs 96-45 in a celebratory home opener.
Ravens point guard Willy Manigat told NPH, “We get a lot of energy from our fans, especially today we unveiled our [2010/11 CIS] championship banner and I think a lot of people came out to see that. So we responded and tried to show them what Carleton basketball is all about.”
Energized by the home crowd, Phil Scrubb opened the scoring for the Ravens. After an Elliot Thompson three-pointer made the score 9-2, Western called a timeout to regroup and they did breifly and pulled the score to 13-10, but that was as close as the Mustangs would get.
With good spacing on offence, strong defense, and the whole team crashing for rebounds (as usual), the Ravens pulled ahead with a three-pointer from Thomas Scrubb and ended the first quarter up 19-12.
Tyson Hinz got the Ravens rolling in the second quarter, with some points in the paint and a key offensive rebound.Then the Ravens stomped on the gas pedal and drove away with an 18-0 run capped by the brilliant shooting of Elliot Thompson and Willy Manigat.
An 18-0 run doesn’t happen with just offence, it begins with defence and doing all the little things. Elliot Thompson said “we contained their main guys and that allowed us to get out in transition and find shooters.”
But having deadly range doesn’t hurt either, as Willy Manigat said “When you can shoot the ball like we can, you can space the floor and the defence panics on the three-point shot, which creates more openings and you can just blow by them easier.”
That shooting touch was on display in the first half with the Ravens going 8 for 11 from beyond the arc led by Thompson, Manigat and the Scrubbs, and took a commanding 50-22 lead into the locker room.
The third quarter was more of the same for the Ravens who outscored the Mustangs 25-6 in the third quarter, led by Phil Scrubb on offence and Cole Hobin on defence.
Western just could not prevent Carleton from getting to the basket because they had to respect their three-point shooting. At the end of three quarters, Carleton held a 75-28 advantage.
In the fourth, and final frame, Carleton relented somewhat and played their rookies and their bench, but still won the quarter 21-17. Western managed three three-pointers in a span of a few minutes led by Ryan Higgins and Nathan DiLoreto, but the point was moot. For every Western basket, Carleton had an answer.
When the dust settled, Carleton came away with the 96-45 win.
Both Manigat and Thompson acknowledged some defensive letdowns, and said the Ravens still have some things to work on because, as Thompson put it; “We have to be perfect every possession, to win in March you have to be perfect on the defensive end and that’s our goal every year.”
The Ravens play next Saturday, November 19 at 8pm against a tougher opponent in the Windsor Lancers, with hopes to keep their undefeated record intact.
