OTTAWA - The Carleton Ravens wrapped up a strong weekend against Western conference competition with a hard-fought 97-91 victory on Saturday night.
Coming off a resilient win against the Windsor Lancers Friday night, the Ravens started strong inside and outside of the paint. Shooting 57.1% from the field and from beyond the arc, the Ravens took a commanding 30-14 lead, with 10 of those points coming from Grant Shepard (Kelowna, B.C.).
The second quarter began with the Western Mustangs going on a 6-0 run and Aryan Sharma (Milton, Ont.) heating up after going scoreless in the first quarter. Being met with a zone defence that they were not used to seeing, the Ravens adjusted their offence and shot 38.9% from the field and 30% from three with one of those threes coming from Wazir Latiff (Toronto, Ont.) in the final seconds to give the Ravens a 50-37 lead going into the half.
The third quarter was all Western as they started on a 14-0 run and outshot the Ravens 31-19, going 10-14 from the field and 6-7 from the field. Tyson Dunn (Newmarket, Ont.) had 11 points in the quarter to add to his 17 from the first half. The Ravens could not quite figure out a way to adjust their offence and the Mustangs went on to take their first lead of the game but could not hold on to it as the Ravens ended the third quarter with a slim 69-68 lead.
Going into the fourth quarter, the Ravens stuck to the fundamentals and dug deep on defence to finish off the game. Going back and forth, Ravens veterans Aiden Warnholtz (Ottawa. Ont.) and Grant Shepard took the lead, as they combined for 18 points in the quarter. The Ravens would go on to play strong on both ends of the floor and take home the 97-91 win over the Western Mustangs.
“One thing about having a younger crew is you can’t make a lot of adjustments on the fly, so we had to stay pretty basic. They kind of knew our patterns a little bit, one or two things we were doing and again I think that’s where they settled in and that’s where they got back in it” stressed Head Coach Taffe Charles on the back-and-forth game tonight against the Western Mustangs.
The Ravens are set to host the Algoma Thunderbirds on December 4th at 4:00 pm at the Ravens' Nest. Looking to prepare for this game Coach Taffe Charles says he’s hoping his team “can settle in and hopefully prepare better, and worry about Sunday when it gets there.”