By Charles Vanegas
One night after knocking off the Ottawa Gee-Gees, the Ryerson men’s basketball team suffered their first loss of the season on Saturday — 91-66 to the Carleton Ravens.
The reigning national champs dominated on all fronts — rebounding (38 to 22), field-goal shooting percentage (56.7% vs. 36.4%) and three-point shooting (Carleton went 8-17, while Ryerson shot just 3 for 24). Rams star point guard Jahmal Jones made just 4 shots on 17 attempts.
“I said yesterday that we were going to have to shoot the ball well to have a shot. We didn’t shoot the ball very well tonight,” said Rams head coach Roy Rana. “We got sloppy at times. And that’s the type of team that if you make mistakes, they’re going to hurt you.”
“It’s a good reminder at how far we’ve got to go.”
The Ravens were led by the previous two CIS MVPs, point guard Philip Scrubb (2011-12) and forward Tyson Hinz (2010-11). They scored 21 and 24 points respectively.
“It was probably the toughest test of the year. It was pretty close in the first half and [Ryerson] gave us some problems,” said Scrubb. “We know we’re going to see them again and we’ve got to be ready for them to come harder next time.”
The Rams (10-1) not only lost their first game of the season, but also their hold on first place in the OUA East. Carleton (11-1) now has a half-game lead over the Rams, and currently owns the tiebreaker as well.
“It’s a tough loss, but we know what we need to improve,” said guard Yannick Walcott. “We play them again one time out there (at Carleton), and probably again in the playoffs. We’ll figure it out, it’s still early.”
The Rams head out on the road next weekend to face the Laurentian Voyageurs (Jan. 18) and York Lions (Jan. 19).
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