SEMIFINAL #2 CIS championship: Ravens oust champs, return to national final

Photo credit Nick Pearse

HALIFAX (CIS) – Reigning CIS player of the year Tyson Hinz scored a tournament-high 32 points as the second-seeded Carleton University Ravens beat the defending national champion Saskatchewan Huskies 95-83 in the second semifinal of the Final 8 men’s basketball championship, Saturday night, at the Halifax Metro Centre.
 
Championship website: http://english.cis-sic.ca/championships/mbkb
 
With the win, the Ravens avenged an 86-82 loss to Saskatchewan in last year’s semifinals in Ottawa and return to the championship game for the seventh time in nine years. They will try to capture the seventh W.P. McGee Trophy in program history when they face the No. 5 Trinity Western Spartans Sunday at 5 p.m. Atlantic Time.
 
The victory improved Carleton’s overall record to 33-1 against CIS competition this season, and extended their winning streak at the Metro Centre to 19 straight games since a 78-77 quarter-final loss to McMaster in 2001. The Ravens have claimed the last five McGee Trophies contested in Halifax from 2003 to 2007, and captured their sixth CIS banner in 2009 in the nation’s capital.
 
“We’ve had great success in this building over the years but this is a different team, we only have one player left (Mike Kenny) since our last win here,” said Carleton bench boss Dave Smart, the four-time CIS coach of the year.
 
“It was a solid effort tonight. We were much improved from last night,” added Smart, whose team got all it could handle from No. 7 Concordia in the quarter-final round before prevailing 73-66. 
 
Hinz, who was named CIS MVP in only his second university season on Thursday, took over the game in the fourth quarter as Carleton entered the final period holding a slim 66-63 advantage. The 6-foot-6 forward from Ottawa scored 13 points in the last 10 minutes, most of them on a devastating spin move inside, en route to player-of-the-game honours.
 
“That loss in last year’s semis has been at the back of our of minds for 365 days. It feels awesome to beat them in the same round this time around,” said Hinz, who was also named game MVP on Friday following a 19-point effort. “They’re a great team and they never quit tonight. It was a tough win.”
 
Three other Ravens scored in double digits including CIS rookie of the year Philip Scrubb of Richmond, B.C., with 17 points, Cole Hobin of Ashton, Ont., with 13, and Elliot Thompson of Fredericton, with a dozen.
 
For Saskatchewan, the dynamic duo of Rejean Chabot of Saskatoon and first-team all-Canadian Jamelle Barrett of Rancho Cordova, California, led the way with 28 and 26 points, respectively. No other Huskies player had more than eight.
 
“Give Carleton a lot of credit. We had a game plan and they defended it. They have a very good, very well-coached team,” said Saskatchewan interim head coach Barry Rawlyk, who was an assistant a year ago when the Huskies captured the first McGee Trophy in school history.
 
Scrubb gave Carleton a 12-9 lead four minutes into the contest with a three-point shot and the Ravens stayed ahead for the rest of the first half.
 
A Kyle Smendziuk layup at the buzzer completed a dominating 27-16 opening period for the OUA finalists.
 
The experienced Huskies didn’t panic however and climbed all the way back to within one point midway through the second frame, at 31-30, on a pair of Chabot free throws.
 
Carleton responded with a 7-0 run capped off by a Scrubb three-pointer to restore an eight-point advantage.
 
The score was 44-39 Ravens at the end of a first half that featured four players in double digits in scoring – two on each side – including Hinz (14) and Scrubb (10) for Carleton and Chabot (16) and Barrett (12) for Saskatchewan.
 
Carleton made six of 18 shots from beyond the arc in the opening 20 minutes (33.3%), while Saskatchewan was only good on one of eight attempts from long distance (12.5%).
 
The Huskies once again cut the deficit to only one point, at 44-43, early in the third quarter following a Chabot layup but the Ravens went on another run, this one of eight straight points, to go up 52-43.
 
Saskatchewan made it a one-point affair twice more before the end of the third, including two Barrett free throws that reduced the Carleton advantage to 64-63 with 58 seconds on the clock.
 
It was 66-63 Carleton after 30 minutes. 
 
Chabot had a chance to finally tie it early in the fourth but missed his second attempt from the charity stripe, which left the Huskies trailing 70-69.
 
The Ravens went up by eight points, at 83-75, with three minutes to go thanks to a long three by Elliot Thompson and were never really in danger after that point.
 
Saskatchewan was hurt by poor free throw shooting in the final 10 minutes, missing no less than seven attempts from the line. For the game, the Huskies were 28 for 45 on foul shots (62.2%).
 
The Canada West finalists also never found their groove from three-point line finishing at 14.3 per cent (3 for 21). Barrett was only two for 12 from long distance, while Chabot missed his four attempts. 
 
STAT LEADERS
 
Carleton
Points: Tyson Hinz (32), Philip Scrubb (17), Cole Hobin (13), Elliot Thompson (12)
Rebounds: Kyle Smendziuk (11), Tyson Hinz (9), Philip Scrubb (7), Cole Hobin (7)
Assists: Elliot Thompson (7), Philip Scrubb (5)
 
Player of the game: Tyson Hinz
 
Saskatchewan
Points: Rejean Chabot (28), Jamelle Barrett (26)
Rebounds: Michael Lieffers (12), Chris Unsworth (10)
Assists: Jamelle Barrett (5)