Skip navigation
Favorites
Sign up to follow your favorites on all your devices.
Sign up

Canadian powerhouse defeats Memphis

Josh Pastner

Memphis head coach Josh Pastner, left, watches practice on Thursday, March 15, 2012, in Columbus, Ohio. Saint Louis is to play Memphis in the second round of the NCAA men’s college basketball tournament game on Friday. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak)

AP

Memphis was added to the list of Division I programs to take a summer trip to Canada, only to return to the States with a loss. On Saturday night, the Tigers took on Canadian powerhouse Carleton. The Ravens built a sizable first half lead, and eventually held on to an 86-76 victory over the Tigers in the Can-Am Shootout.

Carleton defeated Vermont and UIC last week while dropping a its first game to Indiana. Last summer, the Ravens defeated Wisconsin, a team that later reached the Final Four. Carleton has won the last four Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) titles and 10 of the last 12.

Philip Scrubb scored a game-high 35 points for Carleton, followed by his brother, Thomas, who added 21. The duo shot a combined 19 of 35 (10 of 16) from the field and outscored Memphis in the first half. Nick King led Memphis with a team-high 19 points. Newcomers Chris Hawkins and Dominic Magee added 14 and 11, respectively, off the bench. Returning starter Austin Nichols missed Saturday night’s game with an ankle injury.

Carleton shot 55 percent in the first half, and 57 percent from beyond the arc to build a 55-29 halftime lead. Memphis held the Ravens to 36 percent shooting in the final two quarters while outscoring them 47-31.

“The Carleton coach told me before the game that they blitzed Wisconsin, Syracuse and Louisville early in past exhibitions,” Memphis head coach Pastner said in a recap published by the school. “They jump on teams early, and we were another victim.”

This current Memphis team was more than susceptible to falling behind early, especially against a talented and experienced back court. The Tigers lost all four seniors from last year’s perimeter attack. On Saturday, the four guards to log the most minutes in the back court included redshirt freshmen Markel Crawford and Pookie Powell along with incoming freshman Dominic Magee and junior college transfer Chris Hawkins. None of whom have played a Division I game yet. That quartet was matched up against the high-scoring Scrubb brothers, both of whom were named to the Canadian national team this summer.

Memphis has another game on Sunday night, taking on the University of Ottawa, a team that made headlines earlier this month when it defeated Indiana.

Follow @terrence_payne