Ravens too much to handle for X-Men

The eighth-seeded X-Men were upended 94-57 by the tourney host and top-seeded Carleton Ravens in Friday night’s CIS men’s basketball quarterfinal at Scotiabank Place in Ottawa.

Terrence Taylor scored a team-high 19 points for the X-Men, followed by Christian Upshaw with 16.  Stuart Turnbull led the Ravens offence with 23 points on nine-of-11 shooting. Attendance for the evening’s two quarterfinals was 8,924.

“Our inexperience was a huge factor and I think if we executed our game plan a bit better we would have had a better outcome, but we have to learn how to play forty minutes of strong basketball,” said Upshaw, the Atlantic conference MVP and a first team all-Canadian. “Carleton played 40 minutes of defence and 40 minutes of offence and we just couldn’t match that.”

None of the X-Men who dressed had ever played at a national championship before. Fifth-year co-captain Tyler Richards was not in the StFX lineup.

The Ravens used back-to-back three balls by Aaron Doornekamp and Rob Saunders, along with a three-point play the old-fashioned way by Turnbull, as part of an 11-0 run to seize early control at 13-2 with just 3:30 played. StFX’s pressure defence was effective in stretches, but Carleton used a 12-4 rebounding edge to grab a 21-15 advantage after the opening quarter.

The X-Men unravelled in the second quarter.

One-on-one play and quick shots early in their possessions proved to be X’s undoing. A three-pointer by Mike Kenny at the buzzer gave the Ravens a lopsided 27-8 edge for the quarter and a comfortable 48-23 lead by halftime. StFX mustered just eight field goals by the break and shot 36.4 per cent from the floor. Carleton held a sizeable 20-10 rebounding edge, including 10 at the offensive end.

It’s the third time in six years the X-Men have been ousted by the Ravens at the Canadian championship. Carleton, which was ranked tops in the nation all season except for one week in the No. 2 spot, previously claimed the Ontario conference by averaging a 28-point margin of victory over rivals York, Ottawa and Western.

Carleton shot 58.2 per cent from the field and was good on 14-of-30 three-point shots. The Ravens outrebounded the X-Men 38-18, including 14-5 on the offensive glass.

“They like to o-board but they don’t like to defensive rebound and that’s one of their weaknesses that we exploited,” said Turnbull. “We took full advantage of that.”

StFX was ranked between third and sixth all season and was regular season champion in the Atlantic conference with a 17-3 record. The X-Men advanced to nationals via wildcard as league finalist. Other quarterfinal results include: Calgary Dinos 76, Concordia Stingers 67; UBC Thunderbirds 78, Dalhousie Tigers 54; and Western Mustangs 75, Ottawa Gee-Gees 48.

Calgary takes on UBC in Saturday’s early semifinal (The Score, 7 p.m., Atlantic), while Carleton faces Western in the nightcap (The Score, 9 p.m. Atlantic). The final is Sunday (The Score, 5 p.m. Atlantic).

StFX meets Ottawa in Saturday’s consolation round (3:30 p.m., Atlantic). Dalhousie and Concordia are set to tangle in the earlier consolation round matchup.

TIP INS: StFX’s Alberto Rodriguez pinned a layup attempt by Carleton’s Cole Hobin off the backboard in the first quarter ... X’s Chad Warren went down hard with 1:21 left in the fourth and was helped off the court. He was favouring his left ankle ... The X-Men are 18-17 all-time at the Canadian championship, including 10-5 versus the Ontario conference, but 0-3 against Carleton ... StFX defeated Ottawa 64-54 in the 1993 national semifinal en route to its inaugural Canadian championship. The X-Men also won national titles back-to-back in 2000 and 2001.