Ravens Sports Info (Photo: Charles Fortin)
OTTAWA - The Carleton Ravens men's basketball team continued to show great progress on Saturday evening settling in during the second half to pull away from the Laurentian Voyageurs for a 72-63 victory.
The Ravens would trail after the opening ten minutes, as the Voyageurs shot nearly 50%. Xavier Spencer kept the Ravens in the fight in the opening frame, the rookie guard scored 10 points to keep Carleton within three. Spencer would continue to go shot for shot with Caillou Lacroix in the second. The Voyageurs guard pushed his first-half total to 16, thanks in a big part to being a perfect 7-for-7 at the line.
As the second half got underway, the Ravens continued to trail by three. More concern would enter the crowd at the Nest as Spencer would pick up two fouls in quick succession and head to the bench. With their star rookie on the bench, Wazir Latiff stepped us as he did last weekend versus Queen's. Latiff scored 9 points in the third to help the Ravens enter the fourth quarter up three.
Both teams would trade chances in the fourth until a bout of foul trouble would see the Ravens pull away. Noah Horobetz Simpson and Marjok Okado combined for twelve free throws as the pair went 9-for-12. Just as they began to look comfortable with the lead, Spencer would add the exclamation mark, a corner three, before quickly fouling out of the game midway through the fourth.
Carleton would use their discipline to work their way down the stretch, outscoring the Voyageurs 22-16 in the final quarter.
Carleton returns to the Ravens' Nest on Friday, January 26 when they host Laurier for Shoot for the Cure. But first, they will travel North to face Algoma next Saturday night.
