Carleton University Ravens' Clinton Springer-Williams (L) and Kewyn Blain celebrate with their team and the W. P. McGee trophy after defeating the Lakehead Thunderwolves during the Canadian Interuniversity Sport championship basketball game in Ottawa March 10, 2013.Reuters
The Carleton Ravens men's basketball team entered the history books on Sunday, winning their record-breaking ninth championship with a emphatic 92-42 victory over the Lakehead Thunderwolves.
"It's a grind, this weekend is a grind," Carleton head coach Dave Smart said. "I'm thrilled that my kids defended the way they defended and worked at the level they worked at all three games. I think we had some struggles through the weekend offensively, but defensively and rebounding-wise I think they battled against different types of opponents.
"I'm really happy, I'm a little surprised at the way we defended. I'm never surprised at what we do offensively, because we can be a little freakish offensively at times, and we really weren't this weekend, but defensively we've had struggles all year but I think this weekend we stayed within the game plan and stayed pretty focused for 40 minutes."
Ravens forward and tournament MVP Thomas Scrubb was the top scorer in the final with 17 points and eight rebounds.
"I'm just happy that the team won," Scrubb said. "I wasn't worried about my awards or anything. I just played hard and do what ever I could to help this team win.
"[Coach said to] have passion and play tough for 40 minutes because it wasn't a given. There were a lot of senior guys on their team and it was their last chance and they weren't going to give up so we had to play hard."
Lakehead head coach Scott Morrison praised his squad, including guard Greg Carter, who played despite popping his arm out of its socket in the Thunderwolves' previous game.
"He couldn't use [his arm], to be honest," Morrison said. "He's all right hand and I don't think he could dribble with it and that's pretty tough when Carleton's defence is centred around forcing him left. It was a gritty effort, but it shows how we got here."
The Ravens took control early on Sunday, running up a 13-point lead before the Thunderwolves managed to get on the board, and led 18-8 at the end of the first quarter.
Carleton continued to dominate in the second, controlling the boards at both ends of the floor to take a 40-19 lead into halftime.
The Thunderwolves refused to quit, even when they were behind by 28 with only ten minutes left to play. But the Ravens didn't let up and cruised to the title.
The Ottawa Gee-Gees beat the Acadia Axemen 92-85 in the bronze-medal game.