HALIFAX -- Eddie Ekiyor tallied 21 points as top-seeded Carleton overcame a 13-point deficit to defeat McGill 76-71, Sunday, and claim bronze in the U SPORTS Final Eight men's basketball championship at Scotiabank Centre.

Calgary, which defeated McGill 65-43 in the semifinal round yesterday, went on to capture their first-ever national title with a 79-77 victory over Ryerson in the gold medal game.

The omnipotent Ravens, who had been upset 84-76 by Ryerson the night before to dash their hopes of an eighth consecutive crown, led 12-9 after the opening quarter but third-seeded McGill posted a stunning 25-12 second frame to take a 34-24 lead into halftime. Undaunted, Carleton rebounded to outscore the Redmen 24-18 and 28-19 over the final two stanzas.

The Ravens, who had opened the game with a 9-0 run, then stalled as McGill responded with a 34-15 run. The Redmen surprised everyone by holding that lead until Carleton finally regained control at 63-62 with just 4:54 remaining in the contest.

"We're young, we have talent and generally we play hard. But because of our youth, we get in our comfort zone a lot. Sometimes you don't play as hard as you have to play," said Carleton head coach Dave Smart.

Ekiyor, one of four Ravens to reach double digits, shot 8-for-15 from the field and 5-for-6 from the free-throw line. He pulled down eight rebounds to go along with three assists and a block.

Carleton teammates who also reached double digits were Yasiin Joseph (16 points), TJ Lall (14) and Marcus Anderson (10).

McGill was led by Montrealer Alex Paquin, a first-year NCAA transfer from American University in Washington, who earned 17 points and earned player-of-the game honours for the second time in the tourney. The six-foot, 190-pound point guard shot 7-for-17 from the field, including 1-for-5 from downtown, and was 2-for-5 from the charity stripe. He also pulled down a pair of rebounds, stole six balls and had five assists.

Paquin was the only McGill player to merit all-tournament honours. In three games, the 23-year-old applied finance major scored 39 points to go along with four rebounds, nine assists, eight steals and one block. He shot 42.1 per cent from the field (16/38), 27.3 from three-point range (3/11) and went 4-for-10 from the free-throw line.

"I thought you saw a hell of a game today for the bronze medal," said Redmen head coach David DeAveiro, whose troops posted a stellar 26-12 record overall, two wins shy of a single-season school best set in 1976-77 when then-coach Butch Staples guided the team to a 28-5 campaign. McGill's fourth-place finish at this year's Nationals matched their previous best, achieved in 1977 and equaled last season.

"You saw how our team is capable of playing, that was our team tonight. Yesterday that wasn't our best performance and credit goes to Calgary, but today was about our team and the way we can play and the way we perform, and to let everybody know that we belong here with the rest of this group. I can't tell you how proud I am of our guys.

"When we play too fast against a team like Carleton, we tend to make more mistakes," he added. "We were trying to get our kids to slow down and do the things we wanted them to do, and every time we did that we were successful today. And you're playing the defending national champion. You know you're going to get their best shot and you know they're going come back at us, so we talked about that. When we had some good looks to make shots we just didn't make them, and that's part of the game. For us it's important to know that we had those looks to make shots. We had those looks and we just didn't make them, and that's basketball."

Dele Ogundokun of Hamilton, Ont., contributed 14 points for the Redmen. The 6-foot-3 226-pound senior guard shot 5-for-13 from the field, including 1-for-7 from beyond the arc, and was perfect on three free-throws. He pulled down six rebounds, stole three balls and had an assist.

Jenning Leung of the Philippines registered a dozen points and nabbed five rebounds. The fifth-year senior guard shot 5-for-16 from the field, including 2-for-11 from three-point range, and had two steals and an assist.

Francois Bourque of Terrebonne, Que., rounded out the double-digit scorers with 11 points. The fifth-year forward shot 5-for-6 from the field and 1-for-3 from the line. He was also credited with four rebounds, three steals, two assists and one blocked shot.

The Redmen shot 38.6 per cent from the field (27/70), 15.6 from downtown (5/32), and went 12-for-21 from the charity stripe.

"We're a lot better shooting team than we showed in this tournament," said DeAveiro, whose troops shot 37.7 per cent from the field and 22.7 from beyond the arc in the tourney, compared to season averages of 43.4 and 34.2, respectively.

"That's just the way we play and that's how we were going to play today. I thought we did a lot of good things in terms of attacking the basket, getting to the rim and getting some tough finishes. Sometimes you can go into a tournament and make every shot and sometimes you have terrible shooting nights, but you have to find other ways to win. Tonight I thought we found another way to win and we did it for a large period of that game."

The Ravens had a 46-35 rebounding advantage and a 2-1 edge in blocks, while McGill had a massive 17-6 margin in steals and a favourable 22-12 difference in turnovers.

Carleton shot 46.4 per cent from the field (26/56), 47.1 from beyond the arc (8/17) and was 16-for-19 on free-throws.

It was the final collegiate game for five Redmen seniors, a group that includes he aforementioned Ogundokun, Leung and Bourque, along with Sebastian Beckett and Daniel Pieper.

"These guys all arrived at relatively the same time," DeAveiro previously said of the graduating veterans. "And they came at a time when the program was starting to build. We had just won our first (league) championship and these young kids came in and made an impression right away by helping us win the next year, with three starting freshmen. They've kind of established a culture and a tradition here. The expectations for us when we go on the floor and how we play, they've created this culture. For them it's about leaving their legacy behind and making sure that when they graduate, the program's in good hands and the kids who are coming up know how we play and what our expectations are like."

"Here at McGill, our expectations are to win a championship every year. They don't change because our leaders graduate and move on. If anything, these young kids are taking over to make sure that they continue to carry that, the seniors and their legacy."

ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
David Kapinga, Calgary
Eddie Ekiyor, Carleton
Alex Paquin, McGill
Manny Diressa, Ryerson
Mambi Diawara, Calgary

TOURNAMENT MVP
David Kapinga, Calgary

R.W. PUGH FAIR PLAY AWARD
Adam Voll, Ryerson

U SPORTS FINAL EIGHT TOURNAMENT RESULTS

Thurs., Mar. 8
QUARTER-FINALS:
McGill 88, UNB 57
Calgary 78, Brock 76
Ryerson 88, Alberta 62
Carleton 81, Acadia 64

Sat., Mar. 10
CONSOLATION SEMIFINAL: Brock 81, UNB 65
CONSOLATION SEMIFINAL: Acadia 92, Alberta 87
CHAMPIONSHIP SEMIFINAL: Calgary 65, McGill 43
CHAMPIONSHIP SEMIFINAL: Ryerson 84, Carleton 76

Sun., Mar. 11
CONSOLATION FINAL: Brock 94, Acadia 57
BRONZE MEDAL GAME: Carleton 76, McGill 71
GOLD MEDAL GAME: Calgary 79, Ryerson 77