OTTAWA - Xavier Spencer had the second-best performance all-time by a Ravens rookie on Saturday night, scoring 27 points, as the Carleton Ravens beat Waterloo 92-67.
After a tense first half, Spencer and the Ravens exploded in the third outscoring Waterloo 30-11 on route to the victory. For his part, Spencer had 10 in the third quarter, keeping pace with Waterloo's Raf Llorin who had a game-high 36 in the loss.
Carleton started slow with Waterloo building a 11-3 lead before the hosts started to find a rhythm. Spencer and Marjok Okado both hit key threes for the Ravens as they charged their way back to tie the game at 17 after 10 minutes.
Waterloo would pull away quickly again in the second, but Carleton were able to find consistency inside with Noah Horobetz Simpson and Aubrey Dorey-Havens leading the charge for Carleton. The pushback proved valuable as the Ravens would enter the halftime break-up one.
In the third, Carleton stepped up their defensive play and began generating points off turnovers. After giving up the opening four points of the quarter in the first two possessions, Carleton would score ten of the next twelve points to begin pulling away from their guests. During their 12-2 run, Spencer chipped in 8 straight points for the Ravens. On the opposite end of the court, Llorin continued to drag his team into the fight, scoring 10 of the Warriors' 11 points in the half.
Entering the fourth up 20, Ravens head coach Taffe Charles was able to spread the minutes, getting more experience for his young team. In the fourth, 12 different Ravens spent time on the floor, with the team's five starters only combining for twenty minutes. Xavier Spencer was lifted from the contest with four minutes to play after passing his season-high by reaching the 27-point mark. The total is second all-time behind a 32-point performance by Connor Wood.
Next up for the Ravens is a rematch with their cross-town rivals the Ottawa Gee-Gees at the 17th Capital Hoops Classic from the Arena at TD Place this Friday.
