CIAU Finals
G a m e C o m m e n t a r y
The Carleton Ravens had not been to the CIAU Men's Final 8 in 13 years, so the opening minutes of their quarter-final match-up with the McMaster Marauders would be crucial. Carleton needed a good start, to erase any butterflies. On the other hand, the Marauders have been to Halifax 9 years running, so they have the experience to recover from an early deficit.
Carleton got their good start, but McMaster didn't panic, coming back from 17 points down to edge the Ravens 78-77 on a last second buzzer beating put-back by Rodney Baptiste.
With the victory, 5th seeded Mac advances to Saturday's Championship Semi-Final, where they will face the winner of the St. Francis Xavier / Laval game, to be played Friday evening. The 4th seeded Ravens will take on the loser on the Consolation side of the draw.
Early on, the OUA East champs couldn't miss from beyond the arc, as Paul Larmond hit 3 straight bombs. Things continued to go Carleton's way for most of the opening 20 minutes. They worked hard to get open looks on offense, resulting in 64.3% shooting in the first half. With 2:20 to play, the Ravens enjoyed their biggest lead, 46-29. Back to back steals and lay-ups by Steve Maga and Doug Doyle rejuvinated the Maroon and Grey, and to a man, Mac considered those plays the turning point in the game.
"There is no panic in this team," said Marauder Coach Joe Raso. "We've been in every situation possible. Down 25 points and winning, and up 20 and losing. 50 points against in the first half killed us, because we weren't doing the things defensively that we know we can do. But, the steals at the end of the first half convinced us that this game is simple."
The end of the first half carried over into the second, as the Marauders, a tournament Wild Card entry from the OUA West picked up the intensity, and the Ravens cooled off. In the first 10 minutes of the second half, Carleton scored only 9 points, and with 7:16 on the clock, Mac took their first lead since the opening minutes.
The final minutes were very exciting and tense, as the teams trades baskets. With 7 ticks on the clock, Graham Hewitt went to the free throw line for the Maroon and Grey, down 77-75. He made the first, but the second rimmed out. A jump ball was called on the rebound, with the possession arrow pointing to the Marauders, 4.6 and seconds left.
Out of a time-out, Steve Maga's attempt to win it was partially blocked, but Rodney Baptiste came from the weak side to grab the biggest board of his CIAU career, and lay in the winner, as time expired.
"I felt good coming out of the time-out," said Maga, the 5th year senior, who was honoured last evening with the Mike Moser Award, as the CIAU's most outstanding player. "We were due to have something good happen to us here (in Halifax) at the end of a game." Maga scored a game-high 29 points, including a perfect 10-10 from the line.
Doug Doyle was named player-of-the-game for Mac. The 5th year senior had a sub-par tournament last year, Raso knew it was important for McMaster's emotional leader to get going early. "Doug has a saying. 'You can have a fear of failure, or you can be fearless.' Doug is fearless. He wasn't scared to take shots, and make plays." Doyle, who ran the length of the floor after the game-winning shot, agreed. "I told the guys that we can play with anyone in the country, and it was important for me to keep working hard. Hard work always brings good results."
Jafeth Maseruka led Carleton, with 24 points and 5 rebounds. The honourable mention All-Canadian was named the Ravens' player-of-the-game.
Paul Larmond had 21 points and 7 boards, including 5 3-point field goals,
before fouling out with 4:39 to play.
Hits = 395
/mbb/00-01/gm-com/h01c.shtml