HALIFAX, N.S. – A dream season for the University of Calgary Dinos came to an end Sunday night at the Scotiabank Centre in Halifax in an 83-49 loss to the Carleton Ravens in the 2019 national championship game.
In the Dinos' first meaningful loss since Jan. 25, 2018, they fell behind early and were unable to get on track offensively against the smothering defence of the Ravens, who captured their 14th championship in 17 seasons.
"We didn't come out and play like ourselves," said U SPORTS Coach of the Year
Dan Vanhooren. "We gave up a bunch of offensive rebounds early, turned the ball over…we have to play team basketball, and we got away from who we are and what we're about. When you're playing a very good basketball team, you're going to get beat."
Carleton continued its smothering defence and work on the offensive glass, with Tutu giving his team a 17-3 lead on a pair of foul shots, with just more than three minutes remaining.
The Dinos ended the first quarter on a 10-3 burst, ignited by consecutive three-pointers from
Lucas Mannes and
David Kapinga.
Brett Layton added an interior hoop, tipping in his own put back in while surrounded by defenders, and it was 20-13 for the Ravens after one.
Sparked by two three-pointers from Isiah Osborne in the first three minutes of the second quarter, Carleton led 29-18, and by the half the lead had ballooned to 44-23.
Diawara sank five points at the start of the third quarter to trim the Ravens' lead to 44-28 but after three quarters, the Ravens led 64-36.
Calgary went just 16-for-64 from the field in the contest, led by another good performance by
Brett Layton, who was named a tournament all-star after his 11-point, 15-rebound performance in the final. Diawara, with 13, and
Lars Schlueter, with 10, also hit double digits in their final games in the red and gold of Calgary. Diawara was also named to the tournament all-star team.
Joseph led the Ravens with 20 points, while Tutu added 18. Ekiyor finished with a double-double of 12 points and 15 rebounds, while Osborne chipped in 15 points and six rebounds off the bench.
"It's a good lesson for some of the guys who are returning," said Vanhooren. "They'll remember that one for a while, and that will help our program move forward in understanding how we have to play basketball and what we have to do."
The game brings to an end the careers of four fifth-year seniors, all of whom were integral parts of the 2018 national championship, the undefeated regular season in 2018-19, and the program's third trip to the national final in four years after a 50-year absence.
"I don't think I can say enough," said Vanhooren. "David, Mambi, Lars, and Lucas have been tremendous for us in moving our program to another level. We're definitely there in the nation, and those guys are a big reason why. Going forward we need to continue to get better, go back to the drawing board, and see if we can't build something a little bit better next time.
"We could have played better today – I'm just disappointed that's the way our four seniors had to end their careers."
Players of the Game
Carleton: Eddie Ekiyor
Calgary:
Mambi Diawara
Tournament MVP (Jack Donohue Trophy): Eddie Ekiyor, Carleton
Tournament All-Stars
Myles Charvis, Ryerson
Mambi Diawara, Calgary
Eddie Ekiyor, Carleton
Brett Layton, Calgary
Munis Tutu, Carleton
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