Banner Season: Ravens roll in second half to pull away from Mustangs and secure third straight Wilson Cup
Ottawa (via Carleton Ravens) - The Carleton University Ravens took down the Western University Mustangs in front of a sold out crowd at Carleton’s Ravens’ Nest to capture the school’s 12th Wilson Cup title, all of which were won in the last 18 years. Carleton withstood a strong test from a Mustangs team coming off a victory in one of the best games in OUA history, and came away with the 90-68 victory.
The game was much closer than the final score would suggest, as the two teams battled back and forth all night, with the Mustangs trimming the Carleton lead to as little as four points with just eight minutes to go in the game. However, the Ravens responded with a run of their own, stretching their lead from four points to 16 in less than five minutes. “I think we wore down a little bit”, said Western head coach Brad Campbell after the game. “Our execution kind of got away from us. I think our guys just kind of got mentally worn out a little bit, and it showed in some of the execution”.
The game saw several standout individual performances, with first-year Ravens guard Lloyd Pandi leading the way for the home side. Pandi finished the game with 18 points and 10 rebounds, including six offensive rebounds, on his way to Player of the Game honours. On the Western side fifth-year guard Eriq Jenkins scored 27 points on the night, including five made three-pointers, while fourth-year guard Omar Shiddo added 17 points. It wasn’t enough to overcome a deep Carleton team, however, as the Ravens got 39 points from their reserves, compared to just two for Western. The chief contributors off of the bench were a pair of guards for Carleton, as fourth-year Isiah Osborne tallied 16 points, to go along with third-year Alain Louis who contributed 13 points and 4 assists.
Both teams will now turn their eyes to next weekend’s U SPORTS Final 8 National Championship, which will take place in Ottawa.
“It’s just going to be exciting” said Campbell, while pointing out that none of the players on the roster had even won an OUA playoff game before, let alone earned a trip to nationals. “It’s exciting to be in the tournament. We haven’t been in 11 years […] and we’re really looking forward to it”.
On the other hand, OUA Coach of the Year Taffe Charles and his Carleton Ravens are setting their own expectations high ahead of their bid to defend their national championship. Charles made that clear after the game, saying that “It’s been a great year so far, but at Carleton it’s not a great year until we win”.
