Carleton Ravens Take Care of Business Over Waterloo…Dan Penner Leads The Way

NPH Top Performers

Carleton

Dan Penner – Pts: 22 (5-7 3FG), Reb: 7, Ast: 2, Min: 21

Willy Manigat – Pts: 21, Reb: 4, Ast: 3, Stl: 1, Min: 19

Waterloo

Cam McIntyre- Pts: 11, Reb: 0, Ast: 1, Stl: 1, Min: 28

OTTAWA,ON- In their first game since squeaking past Lakehead, the Carleton Ravens flexed their muscle and blew off their frustrations from last game with a dominating 102-53 win over the Waterloo Warriors.

With the win, the Ravens stay undefeated on the season and only Laurier remains on the schedule (Saturday, December 3rd) before teams head into the break and look forward to 2012.

“We wanted to come with alot of energy,” says Ravens rookie Justin Shaver “It’s the last two games before the break and we’re not going to get a chance to play again for awhile so we just wanted to bring as much energy and make it as hard for them on offense as we could, and I think in the first quarter we did that”

It was clear the Warriors were out of their depth in the first quarter as a hungry Ravens team played lockdown defense, not allowing any Warriors players a legitimate possession inside the three-point line. Waterloo managed just 6 points, both three-pointers, and turned the ball over nine times in the first quarter.

Dan Penner says a winning approach comes from, “Just sticking to our fundamental defense that Coach Dave preaches day in and day out. When we execute it really doesn’t give teams too much, forces turnovers and tough shots, and that allows us to get out in transition.”

The lone highlight for the Waterloo Warriors may have been a Zach Angelini fadeaway three-pointer in the second half.

Tyson Hinz and Phil Scrubb opened the scoring for the Ravens, but it was Willy Manigat and Dan Penner who had the most impact on this game, with 21 and 22 points, respectively.

For Penner, it was a breakout game. Penner led the Ravens in scoring with 22 points, including 5 of 7 from beyond the three-point line, while also grabbing 7 rebounds. The highlight came with a dunk in the second quarter which, Penner says “Doesn’t happen very often.”

But Penner was not caught up in the offensive game, saying “Every day, Dave says the key to the game is getting rebounds. If you can grind it out for forty minutes and rebound hard every possession, eventually you’re going to wear teams out and that’s the difference in the game really.”

The Ravens came away with a decisive 49 to 24 edge over Waterloo in team rebounding, evidence of strong team defense and commitment to Coach Dave Smart’s rebound-first mentality.

“If you win the rebounding battle you’re going to win the game,” says Justin Shaver, who is continually referred to as “the rookie” by announcer Vikta Paulo whenever he enters the game.

When asked by NPH after the game when the ‘rookie’ identity can be shed he said, “I don’t think it’s going to happen until the first game next season. It’s going to continue.”

Late in the game, Shaver showcased tough post defense, while Guillame Boucard hit a three-pointer, then swiped a key steal. Willy Manigat continued to get to the basket when needed, and hit the open shot when the opportunity presented itself.

After leading at halftime by a score of 57 to 20, the Ravens flew away with a 102-53 win and will try to maintain their intensity, attention to detail, and focus on the rebounds when they face a tough Laurier team Saturday night at 8pm.

The Waterloo Warriors will skip across town to play the Ottawa University Gee-Gees who fell just short in their own Friday night game, losing a 77-76 heartbreaker to Laurier.