OTTAWA, Ont. - The Golden Hawks started a four-game road trip on Friday, visiting the #8-ranked Carleton Ravens. While the purple and gold held strong through the first half, foul trouble and second chance points were the difference as the Ravens went on to win 97-73.
Aidan Whalen got the Golden Hawks started with a three-pointer, but the Ravens responded with a triple of their own and went on a 7-0 run before Joshua Loblaw went to the charity stripe to make the score 7-4.
Later in the opening frame, the Ravens opened a 10-point gap on back-to-back threes. Jeremy Rudnick sank one of his own, and the Golden Hawks looked to go into the second quarter only down four points, but the Ravens knocked down their sixth-made three-pointer of the frame and led 26-19.
The Golden Hawks made things interesting in the second quarter, and Liban Abdalla was the face of it.
Three minutes in, Whalen found Abdalla in the paint where he used the mismatch to get to the rim. On Carleton's next possession, Malik Langenneger forced the turnover and going downhill he set the pick and roll with Abdalla and sank the floater over his defender.
He had 15 points in the frame, going 5-9 from the field and 50% from distance.
Abdalla and Langenneger would team up for another three-point play before the rookie got his hands on the errant pass and finished on the other end with the two-handed jam.
The Golden Hawks went into the break down 48-40.
The third quarter did not go as planned for the Golden Hawks as Carleton matched them shot for shot and made timely three-pointers while outrebounding their visitors 13-3.
Making matters worse, the foul trouble started to mount, and the Ravens were in the bonus five minutes in, resulting in eight trips to the foul line. The Ravens kept clean on their end, and Laurier shot no free throws in the quarter.
Adding to the woes, the Ravens guarded Abdalla heavily to take away Laurier's hot hand. He still ended with back-to-back 20-point games, tallying 23 points and four rebounds on 53% shooting.
The Golden Hawks ran out of steam in the fourth quarter as Carleton went on a 15-0 run to begin the frame, featuring four consecutive threes. The deficit was too much for the Golden Hawks, and they fell to 4-2 on the season.
