Disappointing Result for Gee-Gees in 2014 Capital Hoops Classic

It appeared as if the Capital Hoops Classic would be tighter than ever this year, with Carleton ranked no.1 and the Gee-Gees ranked no.2 it was the perfect scenario for an all-out showdown under the bright lights of the Canadian Tire Centre. Despite a strong second half effort, the Gee-Gees were unable to complete a comeback, falling 82-58.

When Carleton started the game on a 20-6 run it seemed unlikely that the Gee-Gees would be able to mount any kind of threatening comeback. Carleton continued to pour in the points while shooting 7-for-16 in the first half, in turn forcing Ottawa to play better on the defensive end. Phil Scrubb was in his usual form scoring 19 points and three assists on the night.

"Honestly I was shocked with my team in the first half. There were missed layups and missed opportunities throughout the entire first half which is unlike the team that we usually are. I really have no explanation for it - I thought we would have come out a lot looser than we did. We were extremely nervy," said Gee-Gees head coach James Derouin.

"We have to take a look at some things and watch some video because I don't think we played all that differently than last time we played them. This game changes nothing of where we are in the standings and what our goal is, we just have to address some issues."

After being down by as much as 25 points at the halftime break, the garnet grey went on a 15-2 on run midway through the third frame to close the gap to 12 points. Their strong play on both sides of the ball had the crowd of 6,604 thousand on its feet for most of the third quarter. But despite their efforts the deficit was simply too big for the Gee-Gees to overcome as they failed to break a long streak of losses at the Capital Hoops Classic.

"I think the same thing happened as last time - we seemed very shaky and nervous in the beginning of the game and that killed us. We need to do the simple stuff like rebound and make shots close to the hoop. You are not going to beat a team like Carleton without doing the fundamentals," said point guard Mehdi Tihani. "We need to go practice, regroup and look at the things we did wrong."

Several missed opportunities close to net hurt the Gee-Gees in the first half as they shot 9-for-36, an uncharacteristic number for uOttawa. Johnny Berhanemeskel attempted to put the team on his back but struggled at times at finding his comfort zone. The fourth-year guard finished with 12 while Terry Thomas was the Gee-Gees high scorer at 13.

Despite the loss, the Gee-Gees will still hold down the second spot in the OUA East standings with a record of 12-2. Both losses have come at the hands of the Ravens.

"We will look at this game long and hard that's for sure. It's important because we will hopefully be playing them again in the playoffs. They are the best team in the country for a reason so we have to give them some credit but we also need to come out and play to our full potential," said Vikas Gill who finished the game with nine points.

uOttawa will be back in action at Monpetit hall this weekend when they face York University on Friday night followed by Queens University on Saturday.