The Canadian Tire Centre played host to the Capital Hoops Classic on Friday night, an annual showdown between the Carleton Ravens and Ottawa Gee-Gees men’s and women’s basketball teams. Each university got to take home some bragging rights. In women’s action, the Gee-Gees were led by Julia Soriano and Krista van Slingerland as they topped the Ravens 46-40. Stephanie Carr potted a career-high 15 points for the Ravens, but it wasn’t enough to beat Ottawa’s offense-by-committee approach. The Gee-Gees win gives the team a pretty secure hold on first in the OUA division at 10-5, while the 7-8 Ravens battle for second in the division with Laurentian.
On the men’s side of the coin, the Ravens got revenge on their cross-town rivals and handed the Gee-Gees their first loss of the season. The convincing 79-66 win drops Ottawa to 14-1 on the season, but they still sit first ahead of the 13-2 Ravens. More than 10,000 spectators watched the rival showdown, setting an attendance record for CIS basketball. The Ravens were led by Thomas Scrubb, who notched 29 points, including 10 in the fourth quarter to secure the come-from-behind win. Johnny Berhanemeskel added an impressive 28 points of his own for the Gee-Gees.
The Ottawa 67’s 2014-15 season has so far been defined by see-saw performances, and that continued over the weekend. The team lost 5-2 to Peterborough on Friday, but defeated North Bay 6-5 on Sunday. In the latter game, Dante Salituro had an incredible 5-point performance, while Brendan Bell added 4 points of his own. Ottawa sits 4th in the Eastern Conference at 27-20-2. The season marches on with another busy week – a home and home with the Belleville Bulls, and a Sunday afternoon clash against the Kingston Frontenacs.
In NHL news, the Ottawa Senators struggled to find any real offense on Saturday night in a 4-1 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets. Erik Condra was the team’s only source of offense, as he scored an unassisted marker in the third period. Though they managed to hang around the .500 mark for most of the season, the Senators now sit at 20-22-9 and are 5th last in the league and a crushing 17 points out of a playoff spot. Ottawa has a busy week against two of the weaker NHL teams (Buffalo, Edmonton) and one of the best (Pittsburgh), but with playoff hopes all but extinct in early February, it might be time to play for pride.
