Photo by Valerie Wutti
OTTAWA – After many months of patiently waiting due to the cancellation of last year’s season, the Carleton University men’s basketball team kicked off their regular season Friday against the Nipissing Lakers. The Ravens dominated the opposing side and cruised to 106 – 39 victory.
Carleton started out the game with immense efficiency and built a strong lead from the beginning; ending the first quarter with 36 points while Nipissing was only able to score 10. A major factor in the Ravens’ early run was starting guard Alain Louis (Montreal, Que.) who ended the game with 15 points, staying focused despite the lead that started early bolstered by Ravens a 21-0 run to start the game.
Unlike many of his teammates, Louis was able to continue playing during the Pandemic in the CEBL. He believes that even with the large win, there are still things to improve on that will come with watching film, “the biggest challenge this season is playing the same team on back to back days, they will try to improve and come with a new game-plan and we have to be ready and do the same.”
After their strong start, Carleton never lost the lead and kept the momentum high from beginning till end with six players finishing the game with double-digit scoring. On the defensive side, Carleton didn’t give their opponent any time to implement a game plan with forcing 24 turnovers and out-rebounding the Lakers 46-21.
For Carleton coach Taffe Charles, the game was a long-time coming and really emphasized playing with energy in order to bring out the best in the team. “We have to play with energy, that is probably the biggest thing we talked about because if we are energized, we are a tough team to beat. We were able to play fast and set the pace and they were not able to keep up with that pace.”
Carleton will play Nipissing again Saturday, November 6 at the Ravens’ Nest. The game tips off at 5:00 p.m. with tickets available at GoRavens.ca/tickets.