Sudbury, Ontario - The Carleton Ravens battled through adversity on Saturday night to complete a sweep of their North Ontario trip with an 80-64 win over the Laurentian Voyageurs.
Carleton got out to a hot start on Saturday building an early 10-point lead in the opening minutes of the matchup. By the time the opening 10 had passed the Ravens' offence had jumped out to a 29-8 lead.
The Ravens led by as many as 26 in the first half before Laurentian took advantage of being in the bonus in the second quarter to battle back, outscoring Carleton by 8 in the second quarter to stay within 13 at the half.
After 20 minutes, Aiden Warnholtz (Kanata, Ont.) led the Ravens with 11 points, 7 assists and 7 rebounds while Grant Shephard continued to dominate the boards with six rebounds and six points. For the Voyageurs, it was Caillou Lacroix who kept them in the game. Lacroix had 14 points on 50.0% shooting to pace Laurentian through the first half.
The Voyageurs would open the second half with a deep three which set the tone for the quarter. With every advance that Carleton made Laurentian would respond continuing to pressure at every opportunity. Late in the third quarter, Salim Coulibaly blocked a Wazir Latiff runner setting up a Scott Coban transition three that seemed to inspire the home team and fire up the crowd.
While the Voyageurs wouldn’t back down, the game’s physical nature began to take a toll as Marjok Okado and Salim Coulibably would both foul out in the third quarter. Carleton would take advantage of their time at the line scoring 22 points from the charity stripe.
With both teams in the bonus, Laurentian was able to take advantage of their opportunities inside and trips to the line to close the Ravens' lead to 8. Entering the fourth, Carleton led 56-48.
With the game on the line in the fourth quarter, Grant Shephard would step up for Carleton and use his size to separate the Ravens from Laurentian. Each time that Scott, Katchunga and Hassan chipped away at the lead it seemed that Shephard had the answer inside. Whether it was finishing strong on an inbound or receiving a deep pass from Warnholtz in the paint, the Ravens found their answers inside.
Carleton remains on the road next weekend when they travel to Queen's before returning home on Friday, November 25 for 'That 70s Night' against Windsor.
