OTTAWA - The Carleton Ravens and Victoria Vikes have taken the first steps towards a U SPORTS Final 8 rematch on Sunday after both coming away victorious on day one of the 31st annual House-Laughton Hoops Classic.
On Friday, the Vikes were led by 20 points from Dieggo Maffia as they outpaced the Marauders 93-79.
Victoria shot 52% in the first quarter while establishing a 25-17 lead. Maffia scored 12 of his game-high 20 points in the first half while Izzy Helman scored 8 second-quarter points off the bench.
Mychael Paulo and Mike Demagus kept McMaster close into the half before they finally took the lead back with just under five minutes to play in the third. Victoria would take back the lead late in the quarter and never let it go, pulling away throughout the fourth quarter.
Elias Ralph led all players in the fourth quarter scoring 10 points on 4-of-4 shooting.
In the second game, the Carleton Ravens picked up where they left off against Bishop's last week outscoring Concordia 20-11 in the opening frame.
Carleton's Aidan Warnholtz and Concordia's Sami Jahan went head-to-head all night with both players scoring game-highs with 19 points. Without Jahan's eight first quarter points the Stingers could have easily found themselves in a bigger hole as Carleton shot 39% to open the game.
It was a full team effort from the Ravens with Warnholtz, Wazir Latiff, Grant Shephard and Connor Vreeken all scoring double-digits. Warnholtz and Shephard both finished just shy of double-doubles with Shephard collecting eight rebounds and Warnholtz eight assists.
For the Stingers, Olivier Koumassou Bernier found a rhythm late, scoring 7 of his 14 points in the final quarter.
Night two of the House-Laughton tournament goes Saturday with Victoria facing Concordia at 6 PM followed by Carleton and McMaster at 8 PM.
Tickets for day two are now available.
