RAVENS FACE ONE TRAGEDY AFTER ANOTHER
The Carleton Ravens may have won the Bytown Battle, but the Gee-Gees men’s basketball team lifted the Capital Hoops trophy for the third consecutive year this past Friday in front of a packed TD Place.
Nevertheless, Head Coach James Derouin acknowledges that the team “has got to be humble.” Two of the Ravens’ starters, Aubrey Dorey-Havens and Emmanuel Milon, were unable to take the floor on the night of one of the most anticipated games of the year.
Despite the Ravens missing pieces, Cedric Mbiaba and Marjok Okado led the charge for Carleton. The duo combined for 24 points, but balanced scoring from Ottawa’s starters ultimately sealed a 73–52 victory for the Gees.
First-year recruits, Justin Tounkara and DeAndray Hamilton, made quite the impression early on in their Capital Hoops debut. The crowd came alive in the middle of the first quarter as Tounkara came up with a steal and pushed the break, slipping a pass to Hamilton in stride for the finish.
The Ravens leaned on Cedric Mbiaba who put up seven points in the opening frame, trying his best to close the gap as the Gee-Gees were leading 18-13 going into the second quarter.
Unfortunately for the Ravens, tragedy had struck again as Louth-Mohamed Coulibaly went down with an injury.
Having lost their momentum after yet another forward being sidelined, Carleton desperately drove to the basket with 15 seconds remaining. The only thing that came from the Ravens’ frantic attempt was an eruption from the crowd, as Owen Kenney blocked it and preserved Ottawa’s 35–28 advantage at the break.
The Gee-Gees came in hot in the second half, ending off the third quarter at 52–40. Ottawa then put the final nail in the coffin in the fourth as Kenney opened with a three-pointer, followed by Tounkara turning a steal into a breakaway dunk to extend the advantage to 17. With the addition of Alec Phaneuf and Louis Daoust each knocking down key perimeter shots, the Gees dealt the Ravens a 73-52 decision.
“It’s stressful, you get those butterflies,” said Phaneuf when asked about the nerves leading up to the game. The fifth-year transfer may have formerly played for the Concordia Stingers, but Phaneuf found his love for the game while growing up in Gatineau.
After watching Capital Hoops games with his dad throughout his childhood, Phaneuf was nothing short of elated to finally be a part of it: “This is why we play basketball, we do it for the people. This is the largest crowd I’ve ever played in front of. It was just amazing. I’ll never forget this game for the rest of my life.”
“We have a lot of recruits and transfers come to Ottawa, because they want to play in this game,” said Coach Derouin. He also remarked that having a fifth year veteran transfer like Phaneuf has been of great benefit to a team that had a lot of key pieces depart after last season.
A fairytale night for the Gee-Gees men’s basketball team as they keep the Capital Hoops Trophy safe for yet another year and have now split the regular season series with the Ravens 1-1. In spite of the loss, Carleton still reigns at number one in the OUA East while the Gees trail in close at second. With playoffs right around the corner, Gee-Gees fans should stay tuned to potentially see the cross-town rivals battle it out one more time.
