X-Men fall to Ravens in Shoveller tournament final

The CIS ranked #1 Carleton Ravens proved too much for the #3 X-Men as they fell by an 83-61 score to the top team Sunday afternoon in the championship game of the Rod Shoveller invitational tournament hosted by Dalhousie University in Halifax.

The Ravens led by four points after the first quarter of play and extended that lead to eleven points with a half-time score of 34-23. They held the lead throughout the third quarter and after hitting three consecutive three-pointers went up by 21 points, and as high as 25 late in the quarter. They closed out the third frame with a 24 point edge as they built a 66-42 lead. The X-Men could not pull closer in the fourth quarter as the Ravens held onto the lead and the victory.

Carleton had five players in double scoring figures including Player of the Game and Tournament MVP Aaron Doornecamp with 16 points, 9 rebounds, 6 assists and 4 steals. Stuart Turnbull scored 15 points and had 6 assists while Michael Kenny and Kevin McCleery scored 14 points a piece. Rob Saunders added 13 points for the Ravens.

The X-Men were led by rookie forward and Player of the Game Jeremy Dunn who scored who scored 15 points and added 5 rebounds. T-Bear Upshaw scored 13 points and had 3 assists and 2 steals for the X-Men and Terrance Taylor had 10 points and 4 rebounds for X.

Both Upshaw and Dunn were named to the Tournament all-star team along with McCleery from Carleton, Joey Haywood from Saint Mary’s and Simon Farine from Dalhousie.

The X-Men had advanced to the final with earlier tournament victories over Saint Mary’s (98-81) in the semi-finals and Lakehead (70-61) in the quarterfinals.

The first place X-Men are 6-0 in league play and resume regular season AUS action on Thursday, Jan. 8 when they will be back in Halifax to meet the fourth place Saint Mary’s Huskies (3-2).