March 18, 2007
CARLETON RAVENS MOVE ON TO FINAL, DRIVE FOR FIVE STILL ALIVE
HALIFAX (CIS) - The Carleton Ravens are one win away from their fifth straight W.P McGee Trophy as CIS men's basketball champions.
The third-seeded Ravens outscored the No. 7 Ottawa Gee-Gees 43-29 in the second half of the second semi-final of the 2007 CIS Final 8 Saturday night on their way to a convincing 80-58 victory.
OUA finalist Carleton will face the No. 4 Brandon Bobcats for the first-time every at the Nationals Sunday at 4:30 p.m. Atlantic Time (Live on TSN / 3:30 p.m. Eastern), hoping to move within two of the all-time record of seven consecutive W.P. McGee Trophies set by the Victoria Vikes from 1980-1986.
The Ravens have now won 16 straight contests at the CIS tournament, two short of the mark set by Victoria during their championship run.
Brandon, looking for its first title since 1996 and the fifth in school history, edged No. 8 Saint Mary's 79-74 in Saturday's early semi-final.
The latest episode of the Canal War between the nation's capital arch-rivals lived up to all the hype in the first half, but the four-time champions came out gunning after the break and all but put the game away four minutes into the second stanza.
With the Ravens ahead 37-29 at the intermission, six-foot-seven forward Aaron Doornekamp (Odessa, Ont.) opened the second period with a three-point bucket, two-time reigning CIS player of the year Osvaldo Jeanty (Gloucester, Ont.) followed with a smooth lay-up, and a pair of Kevin McLeery (Nepean, Ont.) baskets later, it was all of a sudden 46-33 Carleton.
Three-pointers from Rob Saunders (Kingston, Ont.) and Doornekamp 70 seconds apart made it 63-39 at the midway mark of the frame, and another Doornekamp long-range shot increased the gap to 29 points (68-39) with 7:10 remaining. The Ravens would lead by as much as 31.
"I wanted the game tonight so I can keep my promise to Dave (Smart) and the team," said Jeanty, the only Raven who could claim a fifth CIS ring on Sunday. "I promised myself and the team in my first season that we would play in five championship games in five years."
"We defended and rebounded like we should. We defended tough," commented Smart, whose troops held Ottawa to 30.4-percent shooting and had a 37-29 edge on the boards.
The Ravens shot 55.3 percent for the game, including an astounding 68.2% in the second half (15-of-22), and 47.8% from beyond the arc.
Jeanty led all scorers in the contest with 21 points, while Doornekamp, who missed last year's national tournament with a broken ankle, was named player of the match following a 15-point, 10-rebound double-double.
Fourth-year guard Ryan Bell (Orleans, Ont.) chipped in with 10 points, while McLeery and Jean-Emmanuel Jean-Marie (Ottawa) added nine apiece.
The result was surprising to most, as seven of the last eight head-to-head meetings between the Ravens and Gee-Gees had come down to the last few possessions. This season, Ottawa edged Carleton by two and six points in a pair of conference wins, while the reigning champions took the OUA East final 65-63.
The affair was reminiscent of the lone previous clash at the CIS tourney however, when the Ravens dominated their Ottawa neighbours 69-47 in the first round in 2005.
"Their defense was what it is, it's one of the best in the country. The bottom line is we didn't make any shots tonight. We missed open looks all night. Didn't hit anything, period," said Gee-Gee bench boss Dave DeAveiro.
A trio of Ottawa-born guards scored in double figures for the Gee-Gees. Josh Gibson-Bascombe and Sean Peter tallied 12 points apiece, while Willy Manigat had 11.
STAT LEADERS
Carleton
Points: Osvaldo Jeanty (21), Aaron Doornekamp (15), Ryan Bell (10)
Rebounds: Aaron Doornekamp (10)
Assists: Stuart Turnbull (7)
Player of the game: Aaron Doornekamp
Ottawa
Points: Josh Gibson-Bascombe (12), Sean Peter (12), Willy Manigat (11)
Rebounds: Jermaine Campbell (5), Curtis Shakespeare (5), Dax Dessureault (5)
Assists: Jermaine Campbell (3)
-CIS-
The third-seeded Ravens outscored the No. 7 Ottawa Gee-Gees 43-29 in the second half of the second semi-final of the 2007 CIS Final 8 Saturday night on their way to a convincing 80-58 victory.
OUA finalist Carleton will face the No. 4 Brandon Bobcats for the first-time every at the Nationals Sunday at 4:30 p.m. Atlantic Time (Live on TSN / 3:30 p.m. Eastern), hoping to move within two of the all-time record of seven consecutive W.P. McGee Trophies set by the Victoria Vikes from 1980-1986.
The Ravens have now won 16 straight contests at the CIS tournament, two short of the mark set by Victoria during their championship run.
Brandon, looking for its first title since 1996 and the fifth in school history, edged No. 8 Saint Mary's 79-74 in Saturday's early semi-final.
The latest episode of the Canal War between the nation's capital arch-rivals lived up to all the hype in the first half, but the four-time champions came out gunning after the break and all but put the game away four minutes into the second stanza.
With the Ravens ahead 37-29 at the intermission, six-foot-seven forward Aaron Doornekamp (Odessa, Ont.) opened the second period with a three-point bucket, two-time reigning CIS player of the year Osvaldo Jeanty (Gloucester, Ont.) followed with a smooth lay-up, and a pair of Kevin McLeery (Nepean, Ont.) baskets later, it was all of a sudden 46-33 Carleton.
Three-pointers from Rob Saunders (Kingston, Ont.) and Doornekamp 70 seconds apart made it 63-39 at the midway mark of the frame, and another Doornekamp long-range shot increased the gap to 29 points (68-39) with 7:10 remaining. The Ravens would lead by as much as 31.
"I wanted the game tonight so I can keep my promise to Dave (Smart) and the team," said Jeanty, the only Raven who could claim a fifth CIS ring on Sunday. "I promised myself and the team in my first season that we would play in five championship games in five years."
"We defended and rebounded like we should. We defended tough," commented Smart, whose troops held Ottawa to 30.4-percent shooting and had a 37-29 edge on the boards.
The Ravens shot 55.3 percent for the game, including an astounding 68.2% in the second half (15-of-22), and 47.8% from beyond the arc.
Jeanty led all scorers in the contest with 21 points, while Doornekamp, who missed last year's national tournament with a broken ankle, was named player of the match following a 15-point, 10-rebound double-double.
Fourth-year guard Ryan Bell (Orleans, Ont.) chipped in with 10 points, while McLeery and Jean-Emmanuel Jean-Marie (Ottawa) added nine apiece.
The result was surprising to most, as seven of the last eight head-to-head meetings between the Ravens and Gee-Gees had come down to the last few possessions. This season, Ottawa edged Carleton by two and six points in a pair of conference wins, while the reigning champions took the OUA East final 65-63.
The affair was reminiscent of the lone previous clash at the CIS tourney however, when the Ravens dominated their Ottawa neighbours 69-47 in the first round in 2005.
"Their defense was what it is, it's one of the best in the country. The bottom line is we didn't make any shots tonight. We missed open looks all night. Didn't hit anything, period," said Gee-Gee bench boss Dave DeAveiro.
A trio of Ottawa-born guards scored in double figures for the Gee-Gees. Josh Gibson-Bascombe and Sean Peter tallied 12 points apiece, while Willy Manigat had 11.
STAT LEADERS
Carleton
Points: Osvaldo Jeanty (21), Aaron Doornekamp (15), Ryan Bell (10)
Rebounds: Aaron Doornekamp (10)
Assists: Stuart Turnbull (7)
Player of the game: Aaron Doornekamp
Ottawa
Points: Josh Gibson-Bascombe (12), Sean Peter (12), Willy Manigat (11)
Rebounds: Jermaine Campbell (5), Curtis Shakespeare (5), Dax Dessureault (5)
Assists: Jermaine Campbell (3)
-CIS-
