Thompson, Ravens beat Trinity Western: CIS men's basketball final
A 19-point performance from tournament all-star Elliot Thompson has led the Carleton Ravens to their seventh CIS men's basketball championship in the last nine years.
Carleton downed Trinity Western University 82-59 in Halifax on Sunday.
The Ravens built an 18 point half-time lead, largely on the strength of superb three-point shooting. Six different Ravens made at least one three, and the team was 10 for 20 from beyond the arc.
"You gotta just keep shooting the ball. I shot a lot of threes and some of them weren't going in, but you've just got to trust your body and keep shooting," said Thompson, who was 4-for-12 on threes. "The main thing going into this game, and for the whole tournament, was to keep attacking, never quit and play for 40 minutes, and that's why we won this tournament."
Tournament MVP and player of the year Tyson Hinz had 11 points, six rebounds, four assists and played 39 minutes, the most of anybody on either team. After dominating in the post in Carleton's semifinal game, Hinz moved to the perimeter for much of the final.
"They're very strong guys and they did a good job in the post, just battling, so I thought maybe I could take them outside," he said.
Phillip Scrubb had 16 points and Willy Manigat 14 for Carleton, which outrebounded Trinity Western 46-34 and forced 18 turnovers.
"The two most talented guys on our team are 18- and 19-years-old, so they're very young, very inexperienced and I'll tell you, getting our head handed to us last Saturday [in the Ontario final] took a lot of pressure off the young guys," said Ravens coach Dave Smart, who won his fourth coach of the year award this year, with a roster that included just one fifth year player.
"It's the leadership we've had year after year after year. It's what they do in the team room when I'm not around that builds the culture."
Coston struggles
TWU's Kyle Coston, the hero of a seminal upset win over UBC, languished on the bench for much of the first half with two personal fouls and just five points, finishing with 15. All-Canadian Jacob Doerksen had 16 points and 12 boards for the Spartans.
It was the first trip to nationals for the Canada West conference team, a wild card entry to the Final 8 tournament. Coach Scott Allen said the game was decided by Carleton's defensive intensity.
"We couldn't match it, just being able to react to a team that plays such hard defence," Allen said. "They take you out of sets, they make you shoot the ball a little quicker. It's a learning experience for our program. Our first year being here, doing as well as we did, we feel like it's been a successful season. The offseason starts tomorrow."
The University of British Columbia Thunderbirds won the bronze medal, beating Saskatchewan 111-95 in the highest scoring game in Final 8 tournament history. The total of 206 points broke a record set in 1972, when UBC and Windsor combined for 201 points, the last time the Vancouver school won a national title.
On Sunday, the Thunderbirds were led by guard Alex Murphy, who made seven three-pointers in a 36-point performance to conclude his university career. Nathan Yu had 17, Brent Malish 16 and Kamar Burke 15.
For the Huskies, point guard Jamelle Barrett had his third offensive outburst of the tournament, finishing with 28 points and ten assists. Michael Lieffers added 23 points.
In the fifth/sixth place game, Lakehead erased an 11-point deficit to down Dalhousie 84-80.
A crowd of 3,407 took in the championship game, pushing attendance for the weekend to 20,504.
Joining Hinz and Thompson on the tournament all-star team were Coston and Doerksen, along with Jamelle Barrett.