The two greatest dynasties in Canadian men’s university basketball, one current and one from when Duran Duran topped the charts, clashed Saturday night.
The Carleton Ravens defeated the host University of Victoria Vikes 73-59 in the Guy Vetrie Tournament on Ken and Kathy Shields Court in the CARSA Gymnasium.
The defending champion Ravens have won a remarkable 14 national championships in the past 17 years.
“It’s the character and culture we have formed,” said fifth-year Carleton guard Yasiin Joseph.
“We don’t dwell on it [being a dynasty]. We just go out and work hard every practice and every game.”
That is much the same way the UVic Vikes were built when they won seven consecutive national titles in the 1980s under coach Ken Shields. There were starry players to be sure — Eli Pasquale, Gerald Kazanowski and Greg Wiltjer played in the Olympics for Canada — but the Vikes were mostly about sweat and stamina.
Shields noted that point-guard Pasquale, who inspired two-time NBA MVP and basketball hall-of-famer Steve Nash, came second in his first fitness drill as a rookie, then never lost another drill in practice over five years.
“We had a very competitive and tough group that worked hard and played hard,” said Shields, who is watching the Vetrie tournament.
Much like with the Ravens, the word “dynasty” was never mentioned.
“We never talked about it. Every season was a new one,” Shields said.
Shields made sure no other teams outworked his Vikes or played better defence than them. He sees a lot of similarities between his old UVic teams and the Ravens.
“What Carleton has achieved is absolutely outstanding,” Shields said.
“The Ravens have absolutely the best defence every season without exception. The simply outwork and outplay their opponents.”
Dynastic teams win with the basics, not flash.
“It’s not rocket science. It’s common sense,” Shields said.
Joseph concurred.
“We don’t feel pressure [to keep repeating as national champs]. We know if we play the right way, the results will be there,” said Joseph, who has won three national titles in his four previous seasons at Carleton.
The Ravens matched UVic’s seven-straight national titles with a consecutive run from 2011 to 2017.
The only non-Carleton national champions since 2003 have been the Brock Badgers in 2008, Saskatchewan Huskies in 2010 and Calgary Dinos in 2018.
The Ottawa-based Ravens crushed the Dinos 84-49 in the 2019 national championship game last spring in Halifax.
The teams reprised that match-up Friday night at CARSA Gym in the Vetrie Tournament with the Ravens besting the Dinos 81-63.
The UVic tournament is named after the late Guy Vetrie, who coached the Vikes to their eighth and last national championship in 1997.
UVic opened on Friday with an 82-75 loss to the University of Regina Cougars.
Regina and Calgary played Saturday with the Dinos winning 89-84.
The teams close out today in CARSA with Carleton playing Regina at noon and the Vikes meeting the Dinos at 2 p.m.
