Carleton Ravens point guard Philip Scrubb scores against the Ottawa Gee-Gees during the second half of Sunday’s title game at Ryerson University in Toronto. Philip Scrubb was named the tournament’s most valuable player.Chris Young/The Canadian Press
Carleton Ravens coach Dave Smart was enraged, staring into the faces of each and every one of his starters who had just trooped off the floor following a timeout and giving them what-for.
There was less than five minutes remaining in Sunday's Canadian university men's basketball championship, and the Ravens had the Ottawa Gee-Gees by the throat, with an insurmountable 41-point lead.
And Smart was almost apoplectic during the timeout, his eyes flashing with anger.
The game, for all intents and purposes, was over and the Ravens were about to begin celebrating their fifth consecutive national title, and 11th in the past 13 seasons.
And there was Smart, still coaching the heck out of his team, never willing to take a single play off. The Ravens had just committed a shot-clock violation and the coach was incensed.
"We want to focus on playing every possession like it's a one-point game," said Carleton star point guard, Philip Scrubb, trying to explain what makes his intense coach tick. "He just expects the best of us."
And to Smart's credit, he usually gets what he wants.
Once again the Ravens have shown that, when it comes to men's basketball in Canadian Interuniversity Sport, they remain in a class by themselves.
Playing their cross-town rival Gee-Gees, who were expected to put up more of a fight, the Ravens jumped out into an early lead and just didn't let up, cruising to a 93-46 win before 3,917 at the Mattamy Athletic Centre at Ryerson University.
The dominance proved too much for Ottawa coach James Derouin, who was handed his second technical of the game late in the third quarter and banished to the locker room.
The 47-point victory wasn't the most lopsided in the 53-year history of the championship, but it was close.
Carleton, of course, holds that mark when it polished off Lakehead University by 50 points (92-42) two seasons ago.
Sunday's emphatic win marked a satisfying conclusion to the university careers of Phil and Thomas Scrubb, the Richmond, B.C., brothers who have celebrated with a national title in all five years of their CIS playing eligibility.
Philip Scrubb played with his usual authority, leading the way for Carleton with 28 points and 10 assists. He was selected as the tournament's most valuable-player, the second time he has been so honoured.
Thomas Scrubb chipped in with 20 points and 12 rebounds.
But none of that seemed to matter late in the game when Smart was venting in front of his players, much of his diatribe directed toward his all-star point guard, who the coach believes is too laid back at times.
Smart said his goal is to try to teach Philip Scrubb to be "insanely" competitive.
"That's the one thing that he needs, he needs to find ways to always be competitive, always want to step on people's throats. It sounds bad. But the bottom line is, he wants to play at the highest level. If you look at Russell Westbrook – I'm not saying he's at that level – but if you look at the Chris Pauls, the Russell Westbrooks, the Kyle Lowrys of the world – they're mean, they're mean guys when they walk on the floor.
"Phil's not a mean guy. He needs to become a competitor, a crazy competitor. I don't necessarily think he's going to be at that level but is there an outside shot that he can find a spot on the roster in the NBA? Yeah, if he changes that mentality because his talent level, his basketball IQ, is off the charts."
The Ravens led 15-10 after the first quarter and, on the strength of a 17-2 run in the second, stretched that advantage to 38-23 by halftime.
Any hopes Ottawa had of pulling back into the game dried up early in the third quarter when the Ravens rode the hot shooting hand of Connor Wood into a commanding lead.
Wood, who finished with 21 points, connected on two three-point shots plus a field goal, while teammate Victor Raso chipped in with a three that added up to a 11-2 run to begin the frame.
Ottawa was now down 49-25 and their drive was ebbing noticeably.
"It seemed to go from bad to worse from there," Derouin said.
Derouin was called for his first technical late in the second quarter, a ploy he said to try to shake his team from the doldrums.
He said his second, which led to his ejection, came after he had words with one of the officials who had issued a warning to the bench for one of his assistant coaches to remain seated during play.
"To me I've got to throw a chair or I've got to do something a bit bigger than that to get thrown out of a national championship final in my mind," Derouin said.