TORONTO - The Ryerson men's basketball team is set to take on both the No. 5 nationally-ranked Ottawa Gee-Gees and the No. 1 ranked Carleton Ravens this weekend on home court.

When the Rams lost back-to-back games against the Queen's Gaels and the Varsity Blues towards the end of November, the program was at its lowest in years. The Rams were 4-5 and were yet to come up against any of the league's top teams. It appears that since that infamous loss to the Varsity Blues in the Battle of the Six, a flip has been switched with the Rams basketball team.

The Rams are currently on a five-game winning streak, which includes victories over the nationally-ranked Marauders and Mustangs, as well as a rematch win over the Blues just last weekend. But the road to the OUA playoffs does not get any easier from here, as they are set to face the top three teams in the province in their next three games. Call it good or bad luck, either way, the Rams could not look more prepared going into these heavyweight matchups. 

Looking ahead to this weekend's games, the Rams will take on the 10-3 Ottawa Gee-Gees on Friday night. The Gee-Gees, who are on a three-game win streak of their own, are a high-volume shooting team ranking first in field goal and three-point shot attempts. They also punish their opponents for not boxing out or not playing disciplined enough, as they lead the league in offensive rebounds and steals, something the Rams are definitely aware of. 

After the Rams defeated the No. 7 Marauders, Tanor Ngom (Dakar, Senegal) shed light upon the sharpness the Rams have to play against the two Ottawa teams, saying, "We can't get too high or too low about wins and losses, we have to know that we can get better. I think we had 26 turnovers tonight, and against a team like Carleton or Ottawa you can't make that many mistakes."

Gee-Gees senior guard Calvin Epistola leads the team in points and assists per game, so the Rams front court will be looking to shut down Ottawa's main offensive threat.

On the second night of the Rams' back-to-back are the U SPORTS defending national champions and 15-0 Carleton Ravens. The Ravens are a well-oiled machine, to put it mildly. They have seven players shooting over 50% from the field and have an incredibly deep team full of players who can make plays. 

Some promising elements in Ryerson's favour are that the Ravens will also be on the second night of a back-to-back, so both teams will be leaving everything they have on the floor Saturday night. 

Tactically, Ryerson's biggest advantage is the dominant presence they face on the boards, especially with Ngom back to full strength and playing his best basketball. The Ravens only rank eighth in the OUA in total rebounds and the Rams rank second, much of that rebound total coming whilst Ngom was still out with injury. 

Although Carleton has been able to keep a perfect record despite their lack of rebounding, the Ravens are yet to play against a centre like Ngom this season, who can give the Rams countless extra possessions a game. 

Other Rams to watch over the weekend will certainly be junior guard Tevaun Kokko (Markham, Ont.) who has averaged 30 points in his last two games, and Jayden Frederick (Scarborough, Ont.) who has not been the primary scorer in the second half the season but has shown he is able to get hot and take over a game like he did many times in fall semester. 

This weekend will be a pair of "statement" games for the Rams and is a weekend that has most definitely been circled on the calendar since the beginning of the season. As well as an obviously important playoff chase, the Rams are yet to crack the nation's top 10 rankings so far this season, and a pair of wins this weekend would propel them into that list. 

Tip-off on both Friday and Saturday will be at 8:00 p.m. on Coca-Cola Court and will be available on OUA.tv.