Ravens win, Gee-Gees lose in OUA playoff

Thomas Scrubb and Alex Campbell couldn’t do everything. But they certainly tried. The scintillating duo led the second-seeded Carleton Ravens and fourth-seeded Windsor Lancers, respectively, into the Ontario University Athletics men’s basketball title bout with commanding performances in Friday’s semifinals against the third-seeded Ryerson Rams and second-seeded uOttawa Gee-Gees.

With the loss, the Gee-Gees will have to rely on the vagaries of wildcard selection if they’re to have any chance of fulfilling their hopes of capturing a Canadian Interuniversity Sport men’s basketball title.

Scrubb notched 31 points and nabbed 12 boards as the Ravens rallied from a late deficit to edge the Rams 84-80.

The Ravens exploded to an 11-2 lead as Scrubb kept working free in the blocks but Ryerson rallied to an 18-17 lead after a quarter as Jahmal Jones kept breaking the Ravens’ defence down with the dribble.

They extended their lead to 4438 at the half as Jones kept finding the open shooters and Carleton kept missing open looks and appeared a step slow on their defensive rotations.

Connor Wood rallied the Ravens as he aggressively attacked the basket, drawing Carleton within 58-57 in the second half. Yet, while Philip Scrubb began finding his teammates with breathtaking feeds, Jones kept finding the impossible angles for layups.

Aaron Best and Kadeem Green notched critical buckets as the Rams regained a 73-69 lead with five minutes to play. But Wood and Thomas Scrubb notched putbacks as Carleton responded with an 10-0 run.

Jones answered with a pair of driving layups. Victor Raso and Adika Peter-McNeilly traded treys before Philip Scrubb iced it with a pair from the line.

“We found a way to keep ourselves in the game and then made a run when it mattered,” said Ravens coach Dave Smart.

Wood added 21 for Carleton and Philip Scrubb 19. Jones led Ryerson with 28. Best added 20 and Peter-McNeilly 16.

Campbell was exceptional as the Lancers stunned the Gee-Gees 85-80 and impressed coach Chris Oliver with their resilience. “We responded to their runs and that’s what you’ve got do, obviously, on the road against great teams like that. Our guys played with great passion and they executed really well on the defensive end.”

The Gee-Gees broke to a 26-20 lead after a quarter after nailing four treys in the frame, including a pair by Mike L’Africain and singletons from Vikas Gill and Matt Plunkett.

But Evan Matthews kept grinding in the blocks as the Lancers clawed back within 40-38 at the half while the Gee-Gees stopped boxing-out on the boards and appearing disinclined to move to open spaces on the offensive end of the floor or move the ball with any measure of crispness.

The Lancers kept effectively pounding the ball inside to Rotimi Osuntola and Matthews as they built a slim lead early in the second half but Caleb Agada, who was forced to the bench with two fouls in the first half, elevated the GeeGees’ defensive intensity, while Johnny Berhanemeskel scored seven unanswered points as the Gee-Gees regained a 62-61 lead heading into the final frame.

But Campbell kept drilling jumpers and knifing for layups as Windsor answered with a 10-2 run that set the Gee-Gees completely on their heels and then held on for the upset.

“I don’t know what happened there,” said L’Africain. “We were terrible.”

Gee-Gees coach James Derouin surmised the pressure of hosting the Final Four undid his troops and “seemed to throw us off. ... A lot of credit goes to Windsor and their defence, and the style that they have, their switching defence.”

Campbell led the Lancers with 20. Khalid Abdel-Gabar added 19, Farrell 16 and Osuntola 11.

Berhanemeskel paced the GeeGees with 19. Agada added 15, L’Africain 13 and Vikas Gill 10.