OTTAWA - The Rams men's basketball team's 2022 playoff campaign came to a close Saturday night, following their 87-68 loss against the Carleton Ravens in Ottawa. Going up against the season's undefeated, 2020 reigning-champions in round two of the playoffs was both an honour and the challenge that the team deserved, according to head coach Dave DeAveiro.
"This is the game that you want to be playing If you're any kind of competitive athlete," DeAveiro said earlier this week, "I think our guys understand that."
The team gave the Ravens a run for their money in the second quarter, outscoring their opponent by seven points, and shooting 47 percenr from the field and 44 percent from downtown.
The second quarter also saw the team tightening up on defense, an aspect of the game that the offense-heavy Rams have been working to improve all season. Five of the team's 11 steals happened in the second, as the Rams created chances for themselves at the basket off turnovers.
By halftime, the Rams were down by five, and closing the 12-point gap in the score that they allowed in the first quarter.
The team continued to fight for the lead in the third and fourth quarter, but Carleton pushed the visiting team with an army of cheering fans behind them.
They put up 25 points in the third. Rookie forward Aaron Rhooms had 26 points, while Ankit Choudhary had 16. Mo Ndiaye scooped up five steals by the end of the game.
In a final and low-scoring quarter, the Rams showed signs of exhaustion, and the Ravens took advantage, ending the team's postseason run.
This season, the Rams' top priority was finding their identity, working with new faces that made up more than half the roster and injuries and losses that plagued the team along the way. In the off-season, they'll look to strengthen their newfound rhythm as a group, and come back as a more experienced playoff threat in 2023.
