HALIFAX - The Carleton Ravens are off to the U SPORTS Final 8 Semifinals after a thrilling 73-71 victory over the UQAM Citadins.
UQAM came out firing in the first quarter shooting over 30% from beyond the arc as they pulled ahead of the Ravens. As the opening ten minutes went on, Grant Shephard (Kelowna, BC) found his way inside opening up space for the Raves who then caught a rhythm. With Aiden Warnholtz (Kanata, Ont.) and Wazir Latiff (Vaughan, Ont.) finding their range, the Ravens led by 1 at the first break.
The Ravens would extend their lead early in the second, with Warnholtz and Shephard continuing to lead the way. As the quarter went on, early foul trouble caught up with the Ravens as UQAM took advantage of being in bonus to climb back to a tie game in the final minute of the half. Shephard’s miss in the final possession of the half let UQAM finish the quarter with a 36-34 lead.
The game went back and forth throughout the third quarter with the Ravens losing momentum as foul trouble continued to mount. UQAM outscored the Ravens 21-19 in the third as Elie Karojo had 8 points in the quarter. Carleton still shot 41.1% in the quarter with Warnholtz and Connor Vreeken (Kingston, Ont.) combining for 13 points.
Carleton’s success from long range fizzled out in the third with the team going 0-3 from range. Warnholtz added 9 points in the quarter including going 7-8 from the charity stripe as Ravens clung to a narrow lead.
With seconds to go in the game, a jump ball forced the Ravens back onto the defence. Leading by 2 with 8.1 seconds to go the Ravens were able to lock down the Citadins forcing an off-balance shot to hold on for the victory.
