By Eli Shupak
After dropping three of their four games, Ryerson mens basketball team had their minds set on just making the playofs. But on Friday night, the Rams, ranked $6 in the country, will be in Sudbury looking for the first division championship in school history.
Victories over York and Carleton last week moved the Rams to the top of the division with one game left on the schedule. Friday’s game will in all likelihood determine first place and home court advantage throughout the playoffs as the Rams travel to Ben Avery Gym to meet the Voyageurs at 8:15 p.m.
Ryerson took care of some unfinished business with Carleton last Saturday night when they closed out their home schedule with a 100-75 pasting of the Ravens. The win clinched a playoff berth for the Rams and puts them into post-season for the second year in a row and the third time in school history.
Only three weeks earlier, Carleton had defeated Ryerson 83-67 in Ottawa, so it was sweet revenge for the Rams who had watched Carleton celebrate after their victory.
“We wanted to pay them back for the last game because that really got to us,” Rams’ forward Scott Belasco said. “We wanted to beat the spread (from the last game).”
Since the loss in Ottawa, the Rams have been on quite a tear, averaging a 21-point margin of victory in winning their last six games.
“We’re playing more like we should now,” Rams’ guard Adrian Foster said. “It was just a matter of time before we got rolling. If we play as a team, we can beat anybody by 20 points.”
Carleton stayed in the game for the first half going to the dressing room down 49-40 after 20 minutes. But they were held off the board for the first five minutes of the second half as Ryerson opened up a 25-point advantage and coasted to an easy victory.
Alex Beason led the Rams with 33 points, including 14 of 18 from the foul line, as the team hit 40 of 55 from the charity stripe. Ainsworth Slowly chipped in 17, while Brian Smith had 16 points to lead the Ravens.
Coach Terry Haggerty is pleased with the team’s turnaround and said that not panicking during the early season slump is a big reason why the Rams are where they stand.
“We took it one game at a time and hoped that the other teams would knock each other off,” admitted Haggerty. “That’s what happened in Ottawa (two weekends ago).”
Earlier in the night the women’s team defeated Carleton 65-50 for their second win of the year. Both have come at the hands of the Ravens.
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