Victoria, BC - The Carleton Ravens preseason continued this weekend going 2-1 at the Guy Vetrie Memorial Tournament at the University of Victoria.
After escaping the Alberta Golden Bears on Friday night, the Ravens were stunned by a veteran Vikes team on Saturday before bouncing back to beat Bishop's on Sunday.
Facing a familiar UofA Golden Bears side on Friday night the young Ravens found themselves behind early.
On fire out of the gates, Alberta came out looking sharp, shooting 55 percent from the field and finishing the first quarter with a nine-point lead, 30-21. The Ravens proved why they’re the country’s top team, erasing the first-quarter deficit halfway through the second quarter.
Rookie forward Augustas Brazdeikis led the way for the Ravens with 10 first-half points.
Getting the ball inside and often proved beneficial for the Ravens who eventually pulled ahead in the second quarter with a 41-37 lead to close out the first half. With just over 2:30 remaining in the third quarter, a steal by Adam Paige resulted in a monster dunk giving the Golden Bears a one-point lead with just over 2:30 remaining in the third quarter.
Less than a minute later Paige followed up his dunk by drawing a foul and getting to the line to further Alberta’s lead. Alberta’s lead was short lived with Raven’s first year guard Xavier Spencer driving to the hoop strong, drawing an Alberta foul and completing a three-point play to give the Ravens a 54-53 lead to finish the third quarter.
The rookie got back on the board early in the fourth quarter for the Ravens opening up the lead to start the quarter. With five minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, the score was even 56-56.
A step back from beyond the arc by Golden Bears guard Isaac Simon put the bears up by three but was answered by the Raven’s Raphael Constant moments later.
The Ravens continued to get the ball inside to Noah Simpson and Brazdeikis, using size to their advantage over the Golden Bears to get to the line. It was Meiklejohn drawing a foul and pulling the Golden Bears within one point with a minute remaining.
But a clutch offensive rebound by third-year guard Emmanual Ugbah with nine seconds left all but sealed the deal for the Ravens who moments later drew the foul sending Brazdeikis to the line to give the national champs a three-point lead 70-67 and the win.
A fast-paced and physical game between two of Canada’s best teams. Back-to-back threes from Elias Ralph and Diego Maffia gave the Vikes a six-point lead with 3:33 remaining in the first quarter.
The Vikes led by as many as 13 points in the first quarter holding the Ravens to 14 points. The Vikes finished the quarter up 25-14.
Carleton forward Noah Simpson proved problematic for the Vikes, as the Ravens continued to feed the ball inside to the big man. Simpson led the way for the Ravens in the first half with 10 points and six rebounds while Xavier Spencer added nine points and seven rebounds.
Vikes finished the first half up 48-29. Maffia led all scorers with 17 points.
The Vikes pushed their lead to 28 just four minutes into the third quarter. The Vikes outpaced the Ravens leading by as many as 30 points in the fourth quarter, walking away with an 85-58 win.
The Carleton Ravens came out to an early lead but tough defence from the Bishop's Gaitors helped slow the Ravens' pace.
A big steal by Bishop’s forward David Navarro led to a layup which tied the game up at 13 a piece. Gaitors forward Charles Robert was causing problems for the Ravens down low, but for every Robert hoop, Carleton’s Xavier Spencer answered back. The Gators finished the first quarter up by three points, 26-23.
Neither team managed to gain much ground through the first half of the second quarter, going shot for shot and stop for stop, keeping things even 33-33. Back-to-back three-pointers by To Randriasalama and Aubrey Dorsey-Havens gave Carleton the five-point edge with three minutes remaining in the half.
A strong push by Spencer, who led all scorers with 15, gave Carleton a ten-point lead to end the first half, 50-40.
Full-court pressure by the Ravens continued to put pressure on the Gaitors' defence in the second half, with Carleton extending their lead to as much as 20 points. Bishop's continued to feed the ball inside to Robert who led the Gators with 13 points, but a scrappy Carleton defense wasn’t making it easy. At the end of the third quarter, the Ravens led 72-54.
Bishop's struggled to find the back of the net against the Raven’s pressure in the fourth quarter. A strong second-half push led by Spencer resulted in an 88-72 victory for the Ravens.
Xavier Spencer led all scorers with 25 points, going 9-for-14 from the field. He added four assists in the Ravens' win. Transfer To Randriasalama also added 16 points while Noah Simpson finished with a double-double, adding 10 points and 10 rebounds.
