Photo credit Freestyle Photography / Courtesy of Carleton University sports information office
OTTAWA (CIS) – The top-seeded and reigning national
champion Carleton Ravens proved too much for the No. 8
Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM)
Citadins, Friday night, claiming an 83-72 decision in the last
quarter-final of the CIS men’s basketball championship, at
Scotiabank Place.
Championship website: http://english.cis-sic.ca/championships/mbkb
With the win, the OUA champion Ravens advanced to the Final Four
for the eighth consecutive campaign, having hoisted the W.P. McGee
trophy every year since 2003 with the exception of 2008, when they
were defeated by Acadia in double overtime in the semifinals.
Carleton is set to face No. 5 Saskatchewan on Saturday at 7 p.m.
(TSN2 – tape delayed to 10 p.m.) in the late semifinal of the
2010 tournament, while No. 3 UBC and No. 7 Calgary square off in
the early semi at 5 p.m. (TSN2).
Quebec champion UQAM, which had lost its two games in its only
previous appearance at the event in 2006 – including a 62-59
defeat to Carleton in the opening round – resumes play on the
consolation side of the draw at 1:30 p.m. The Citadins will battle
No. 4 Windsor hoping to advance to Sunday’s fifth-place
match.
“We showed our youth. We played really uptight. We need to
figure out how to mature one of these days,” said 11-year
Carleton head coach Dave Smart. “But I don’t want to
take it away from them. They defend hard, and they get after
it.”
“I thought it could have been a lot closer,” said Olga Hrycak, at the helm of the Citadins since they joined CIS seven years ago. “(Kevin) McCleery hurt us inside. But we made a few changes in the second half to take the ball out of his hands.”
“They did a good job on my number 22 (Adil El Makssoud), they took away his game. As well, you can’t win a game with bad free throw shooting. That hurt us pretty bad,” added Hrycak, whose team missed 12 of 23 attempts from the charity stripe while Carleton made good on 15 of 21 opportunities.
“We’re going to be back next year, that’s for
sure. And I think I'm going to recruit a little more size next
year.”
The visiting Citadins exchanged blow for blow with their Ottawa
rivals in the first quarter and even held a slim 17-16 lead until
Carleton scored nine straight points to end the initial period with
a 25-17 advantage.
The Ravens methodically increased their lead in the second quarter
and retreated to the locker room at halftime with a comfortable
13-point cushion, at 49-36.
Back from the break, the defending champs never let their Montreal
opponents get back to within 10 points in the third frame and were
up 72-54 after 30 minutes.
UQAM didn’t quit and made it a nine-point affair, at 79-70,
when freshman guard Kevin Levy of Kingston, Ont., hit a
three-pointer with 1:12 remaining in the contest, but it was too
little too late.
Fifth-year senior Kevin McCleery, a 6-foot-8 forward from Ottawa,
paced the winners with a match-high 17 points, six rebounds and
four assists, and earned Carleton player-of-the-game honours for
his efforts.
Three other Ravens scored in double figures including guards Elliot
Thompson of Fredericton and Willy Manigat of Montreal, who both had
14 points, and 6-foot-6 junior Cole Hobin of Ashton, Ont., who
finished with a dozen.
Fourth-year guard Arthaud Plesius of Laval, Que., was named UQAM
MVP following a 15-point performance.
Sophomore Éric Côté-Kougnima of Gatineau, Que.,
added 14 points in the losing cause, while Adil El Makksoud of
Morocco, with 13, and Rome native Jules Diagne, with 11, also
reached double digits in scoring.
Carleton shot an impressive 59.6% from the field (31-52), while
UQAM dropped 47.3% of its shots from the floor (26-55). The Ravens
had a 28-24 edge in rebounds.
STAT LEADERS
Carleton
Points: Kevin McCleery (17), Willy Manigat (14), Elliot Thompson
(14), Cole Hobin (12)
Rebounds: Cole Hobin (9), Kevin McCleery (6)
Assists: Kevin McCleery (4)
Milk player of the game: Kevin McCleery
UQAM
Points: Arthaud Plesius (15), Éric
Côté-Kougnima (14), Adil El Makssoud (13), Jules
Diagne (11)
Rebounds: Adil El Makksoud (5), Arthaud Plesius (4)
Assists: Éric Côté-Kougnima (2)
Milk player of the game: Arthaud Plesius
CHAMPIONSHIP
SCHEDULE & RESULTS
Friday, March 19
Quarter-final #1: Calgary 82, Cape Breton 74
Quarter-final #2: UBC 79, Lakehead 58
Quarter-final #3: Saskatchewan 71, Windsor 68
Quarter-final #4: Carleton 83, UQAM 72
Saturday, March 20
11:30 Consolation #1: No. 2 Cape Breton vs. No. 6 Lakehead
(SSN Canada)
13:30 Consolation #2: No. 4 Windsor vs. No. 8 UQAM (SSN Canada)
17:00 Semifinal #1: No. 7 Calgary vs. No. 3 UBC (TSN2)
19:00 Semifinal #2: No. 5 Saskatchewan vs. No. 1 Carleton
(TSN2)
Sunday, March 21
16:00 Consolation final (5th place) (SSN Canada)
18:30 Championship final (TSN2)
-CIS-