Oh so close.
The Dalhousie Tigers were three minutes from claiming their first national banner in men's basketball. But the No. 1 and defending U Sports champion Carleton Ravens finished Sunday night's final on a 13-0 run and a 74-65 victory in a hard-fought, entertaining gold medal game at TD Place in Ottawa.
In a battle of the top two defensive teams in the country, it was the second-ranked Tigers who dominated the first half. Backed by Atlantic university MVP Keevan Veinot, Dal took a 36-24 lead into halftime.
But the Ravens proved why they have been a dynasty in Canadian university hoops. They made adjustments, attacked the Dal basket and scored 26 points in the third quarter and 50 in the second half to stun the Tigers.
The Tigers were still ahead by four with 3:27 left on the clock and by a basket with two-and-a-half minutes remaining. But Munis Tutu hit a clutch three-pointer with 1:37 to go and Biniam Grebrekidan added a three-point play when he was fouled on his drive with 54 seconds left.
Grebrekidan finished with 19 points and 11 rebounds for Carleton, which has captured 15 national titles in two decades. Isiah Osborne was named tournament most valuable player.
Alex Carson, the AUS Final 6 MVP, topped the Tigers with 20 points, including four three-pointers.
Veinot had 11 points, five rebounds and five assists in the first half. He suffered a left ankle injury in the fourth quarter but did return to the floor later. His final line was 11-9-6.
In Saturday’s late semifinal, Carson and Sascha Kappos each collected 19 points to pace the Tigers to an 84-55 rout of the third-ranked UBC Thunderbirds. Carleton dropped the Western Mustangs 90-63 in the other semi.
At the U Sports Final 8 women’s hoops championship, the AUS-champion UPEI Panthers are coming home with medals.
The No. 6 Panthers erased a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit Sunday to beat the fourth-ranked Laval Rouge et Or 57-50 in the bronze-medal game in Ottawa.
“We celebrated but I don't think the whole (magnitude) has sunk in,” said UPEI’s fourth-year guard Jenna Mae Ellsworth, the national player of the year, who finished with a game-high 24 points. “It has been a very long time since UPEI has won a medal or even come to this tournament.”
It is the first time the team has been to nationals since Ellsworth’s mother Tracy MacEachern Ellsworth coached the Panthers to the AUS title in 1998.
In the gold-medal final, the Saskatchewan Huskies defeated the Brock Badgers 82-61 for their second national title.
