Carleton's streak continues with win over Badgers

The Brock Badgers had quite the challenge ahead of them on their road trip to Ottawa. They would square off against the ravenous Carleton Ravens who had won 60 straight Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) matches. While the Badgers looked up to the challenge, they fell short in a 73-57 loss against the top ranked team in the nation.The start of the game looked bright for the Badgers, who started the game with a 12-2 run and eventually jumped out to a 28-18 lead early in the game. From there, the Ravens ignited a 12-0 run and did not look back.

While the game was close at the half with the Ravens up 32-30 with the Badgers shooting 55 per cent from the field, the defence would lock down the Badgers in the second half, holding them to just 32 per cent from the field. The second half was riddled with poor offensive play from the Badgers and despite a strong defensive effort, Carleton subsequently won the game.

Despite the loss, great games were had by Kevin French who had 16 points, which included a monstrous two-handed dunk, Kevin Stienstra, who had a double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds and great bench play from Branko Miskovic who had seven rebounds and three blocks.

However, much of the Badgers' success is contingent on the leadership of Brad Rootes, who was shut down defensively by Michael Smart and the remainder of the Ravens, who held the formidable Rootes to a mere seven points and four assists, forcing five turnovers. This was a huge drop from his 14.2 points per game and 7.7 assists per game averages and caused a discrepancy in the second half offence of the Badgers.

The game against Carleton was their only scheduled regular season meeting. The Badgers will have to wait until the post-season for a potential opportunity to meet another top 10 ranked team and will not get to do so until earning the opportunity to do so in the playoffs. The Badgers are winless against ranked teams this season, also dropping two to number five ranked Waterloo.

On a positive note, the Badgers' weekend wasn't entirely sour, after they beat the Ottawa Gee Gees in an 84-68 romp, where the Badgers came close to surpassing a school record for field goal percentage in a game.

The Badgers shot an unconscious 67.3 per cent from the field in their decimation of the Gee Gees. Morgan Fairweather and Stienstra (who shot 9-for-11 from the field) led the Badgers with 20 points each in an effort that they really could have used against Carleton.

The Badgers will return home on Jan. 19 to take on the Western Mustangs at 8 p.m. On Jan. 22 at 3 p.m. the team will travel to face Windsor. Next week, the team will knock heads with Laurier on Jan. 26 at 8 p.m. and McMaster at home at 3 p.m. on Jan. 29.