Top-ranked Carleton, No. 8 Victoria go for record 9th CIS men's basketball title

OTTAWA - The Carleton Ravens are on the precipice of winning a record ninth Canadian Interuniversity Sport men's basketball title.

Standing in their way are the Victoria Vikes, who also have eight CIS crowns to their credit.

The No. 1 Ravens and No. 8 Vikes meet in quarter-final action as the 2013 CIS men's basketball championship tournament gets underway at Ottawa's Scotiabank Place on Friday.

Joining Carleton and Victoria in the championship tournament will be the No. 2 Cape Breton Capers (AUS champions), No. 3 Ottawa Gee-Gees (OUA finalists), No. 4 UBC Thunderbirds (CWUAA champions), No 5 Acadia Axemen (AUS finalists), No. 6 McGill Redmen (RSEQ champions), and No. 7 Lakehead Thunderwolves (OUA bronze medallists).

Carleton has won the championship in eight of the past ten years. In a year where the Ravens had to fill in the void created by the graduation of seniors, they still managed to finish first in both offence and defence during the OUA regular season.

Despite all that success, head coach Dave Smart considers this team to still be a work in progress.

"We've got to keep moving forward because to expect us to play at the level we played at last year when we've lost so much and we've got so many new parts is unrealistic," Smart said. "I'm happy with the success we've had and actually quite surprised with the success we've had, but on the other hand we're not done."

The Vikes, who return to the championship after a six–year absence, have to eliminate the favoured Ravens on Friday to have a chance at regaining the outright lead in overall CIS titles.

"To be honest, there’s a lot of history to both programs, but I think these kids are just centred on their year," Vikes coach Craig Beaucamp said. "What it does signify is that you've got two programs that have a lot of history and a lot of success, of excellence but nobody, we anyhow, aren't talking about us versus Carleton in terms of number of national championships."

Another quarter-final pits Ottawa against McGill. The Redmen are coached by Dave DeAveiro, who is in his third season after being the head coach of the Gee Gees for nine years.

"It's a great story," DeAveiro said. "When we looked at the matchups, the possible matchups and thought that we could be playing Ottawa U in the first round a lot of things were going through my mind. I know it is going to be a tough situation coming here to play, but I'm looking forward to the challenge."

Gee Gees head coach James Derouin was an assistant under DeAveiro and took over when his mentor left to coach the Redmen.

"Dave and I have been close for almost ten years now," Derouin said. "Neither one of us wanted to play each other really. We're happy with the number three seed, obviously, but it’s unfortunate that only one of us can advance."

The Thunderbirds, under 13-year coach Kevin Hanson, return to the CIS championship tournament after a one-year absence, which was something that led Hanson to a lot of off-season analysis.

"Any time you have even a single game loss, but a loss like that makes you reflect on your program as a whole," says Hanson. "Obviously this is a goal of ours every single year. It's where we want to be and it’s certainly a kick to the ego when we didn't make it last year."

The Lakehead Thunderwolves are making their fourth straight appearance. They have been eliminated in the first found in each of the past three appearances, something they would like to change this time around.

Eastern Canada representatives Acadia and Cape Breton will also be looking to make an impact. The Axemen make their third consecutive appearance and hope to improve on their fifth-place finish last year.

The Cape Breton Capers, ranked number two, are returning after a two-year absence and are in their first year under coach Matt Skinn, who moved over after coaching the women's team at St. Francis Xavier.

The eight teams come with their own strengths and weaknesses, and Smart said rankings don't always mean a lot.

"Once you get here, especially with this year's tournament, there is so little difference between the 'best' team and the eighth best team," Smart said. "And the eighth best team isn't really the eighth best team, there is criteria that goes into the seeding. They're a pretty good team, they've beaten UBC two out of three times."