Calgary holds off Ryerson to claim 1st U Sports men's basketball title
The Canadian Press | Posted: March 11, 2018 11:52 PM | Last Updated: March 12, 2018
Lady Ravens complete statement season with blowout over Huskies in final
The Calgary Dinos have won their first U Sports men's basketball title.
David Kapinga had 25 points as the No. 2 Dinos held on to beat the No. 5 Ryerson Rams 79-77 on Sunday in the championship game.
Calgary was ahead 39-30 at the break and led by as much as 12 before Ryerson attempted a comeback in the second half. The Rams even went ahead by three in the fourth quarter before the Dinos pulled out the win.
Lars Schlueter added 18 points for the Dinos, scoring 10 of those in the opening quarter as Calgary led 21-18 after the first.
Ryerson's Manny Diressa scored a game-high 28 points — including 24 in the second half.
Historic victory
It's the first time in eight years that a program other than Carleton won the men's title, with the Ravens winning the W.P. McGee Trophy every season since 2011.
The Ravens had won 13 of the past 15 national titles dating back to 2002-03 season, with the Saskatchewan Huskies (2009-10) and Brock Badgers (2007-08) being the only other school programs to claim victory.
Earlier in the day, Eddie Ekiyor had 21 points and eight rebounds as the No. 1 Ravens bounced back from their semifinal loss against Ryerson to beat the No. 3 McGill Redmen 76-71 for third.
Yasiin Joseph added 16 points for the Ravens, who outscored McGill by 15 in the second half after trailing 34-24 at the break. Carleton shot 59.2 per cent from the field in the second half.
Alex Paquin led all Redmen scorers with 17 points.
Lady Ravens complete undefeated season
The Carleton Ravens showed why they are the No. 1 team in U Sports women's basketball.
Catherine Traer scored 21 points as Carleton completed an undefeated season by beating the No.6 Saskatchewan Huskies 69-48 on Sunday in the U Sports championship.
Cynthia Dupont added 14 points off the bench for the Ravens, who turned it on in the second half — outscoring the Huskies 45-23 in the final two quarters to turn a close game into a blowout.
Summer Masikewich led the Huskies with 19 points.
Saskatchewan used the three-ball to get past the Regina Cougars in the semifinals, however the Huskies went just 2 for 13 from the three-point line in the final. Carleton hit 9-of-31 shots from beyond the arc.
Saskatchewan also shot just 47.6 per cent from the free-throw line as the Ravens shot 72.7 per cent.
The Huskies were in the championship game for the second time in three years after winning the title in 2016.
Earlier in the day, Charlotte Kot dropped 30 points as the No. 2 Cougars held on to beat the McGill Martlets 66-63 for third place.
Kyanna Giles was Regina's only other player to score in double digits, finishing with 10 points.
Gladys Hakizimana had a team-high 18 points for the Martlets while Alex Kiss-Rusk added 10 points and 11 rebounds.
McGill won its first national title in 2017 and entered this year's tournament as the No. 4 seed.