By Dan Plouffe
The Carleton Ravens swatted back the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees 79-66 to end the Gee-Gees’ perfect 14-0 run in Ontario University Athletics men’s basketball play on Feb. 6 at the MBNA Capital Hoops Classic.
Led by Thomas Scrubb’s game-high 29-point performance, the Ravens avenged their pre-Christmas defeat to the Gee-Gees, who remain one game ahead of 13-2 Carleton.
“I thought we did a pretty good job defensively for the most part,” Carleton coach Dave Smart said in the Ravens’ game recap. “They are tough. They have a lot of talent.”
Ottawa native Johnny Berhanemeskel was uOttawa’s top scorer with 28 points, while Phil Scrubb (13), Ottawa-raised Gavin Resch (13) and Connor Wood (10) all hit double-digits for the Ravens.
A CIS regular-season record crowd of 10,780 crowd witnessed the clash between the country’s 2 top-ranked teams at Canadian Tire Centre.
The 10-5 Gee-Gees downed the 7-8 Ravens 46-40 in the women’s Capital Hoops tilt.
GGs swimmers score big medal haul
The host University of Ottawa Gee-Gees won 5 gold and 17 medals at the Feb. 5-7 Ontario University Athletics Swimming Championships to place 4th and 5th in the men’s and women’s standings.
Robert Bonomo was the Gee-Gees’ top performance with a five-medal haul, winning three gold in the 100 m and 200 m backstroke and the 50 m butterfly to go with a silver in the 100 fly and a 400 m medley relay bronze, while senior Eryn Weldon was the best female Gee-Gee, winning gold in the 400 m individual medley, silver in 200 m IM, 200 breast and bronze in the 800 free relay.
Former GO Kingfish swimmer of OUA-champion University of Toronto Varsity Blues beat the Gee-Gees’ Connor Michie to the line and set an OUA record in the men’s 200 m breaststroke – one of his four gold medal wins.
uOttawa’s Audrey Prayal Brown (gold, 50 m breast & bronze, 100 m breast), Montana Champagne (silver, 200 IM & bronze, 400 IM), Caitlin Hodge (silver, 400 free & bronze, 800 free), and Carolyne Godon (bronze, 50 breast) were also medallists.
Ravens fencers collect hardware
Three Ravens fencers earned individual medals and the epée and sabre teams won gold and bronze at the Jan. 31-Feb. 1 OUA Women’s Fencing Championships in Toronto.
Isabelle Gauthier and Adrienne Sukunda were epée and sabre champions respectively, while Emese Dukai was the epée bronze medallist. uOttawa’s Alexandra Lyn was also a provincial champion, winning the foil competition.
GGs vball & hockey beat the best
The #7-ranked Gee-Gees women’s volleyball team dropped the first 2 sets of their contest against the #1 Toronto Varsity Blues, but stormed back for a thrilling 18-25, 25-27, 25-16, 25-23, 15-12 road victory on Feb. 7. uOttawa finished the OUA regular season in 2nd place with a 16-3 record.
The uOttawa women’s hockey team also knocked off nation’s top-ranked team, recording their second win of the season over the Université de Montréal Carabins at home on Feb. 1. The 6-11 Gee-Gees won the game 4-2 and are now in 4th place at 6-11, with a first-round playoff matchup against the Carabins likely on tap following their last 3 games of the regular season.
The #9-ranked Carleton Ravens men’s hockey team finished the regular season 2nd in the OUA East by 1 point with a 20-5-1 record.