Undefeated Ravens still rolling

Carleton Ravens coach Dave Smart has cautioned all along that despite the gaudy numbers his team has put up this season, they won’t have a cakewalk to Sunday’s CIS men’s basketball championship.

The Ravens came into the Final 8 tournament at the Halifax Metro Centre with a 31-0 record and as the overwhelming favourites to win a second straight national title and eighth in 10 years.

Yet midway through the fourth quarter of their quarter-final against the eighth-seed Acadia Axemen on Friday, the Ravens held a precarious four-point lead. The crowd was buzzing as the Axemen were looking to knock off the Ravens for the second time in five years at a national tournament.

Acadia snapped Carleton’s streak of five straight national titles with a double overtime win in the 2008 semifinal.

Then, just like that, Ravens fifthyear guard Elliot Thompson hit four three-pointers and the Ravens’ lead was back to 20 as they went on to win 82-68.

Carleton was led by Phil Scrubb with 25 points and Tyson Hinz with 22.

In other quarter-final action, the Fraser Valley Cascades won their first-ever game at the tournament 83-71 over the Lakehead Thunderwolves, and the St. Francis Xavier X-men defeated the Concordia Stingers 98-82.

Sheldon Bjorgaard scored 19 points to lead Fraser Valley offensively while Jasper Moedt pulled down 14 rebounds.

Inspired by a partisan crowd, St. FX built a 21-2 lead against the Stingers. Terry Thomas got the fans revved up with some early dunks and finished with 39 points.