RECAP: #3 Ottawa powers to Capital Hoops win over #6 Carleton

The Gee-Gees men's basketball team defeated the Carleton Ravens 79-66 in the 2025 edition of the Capital Hoops Classic. In front of 7,048 at The Arena at TD Place on Friday night, the Gee-Gees pushed their lead to as high as 21-points in the fourth quarter.

Carleton jumped out to an early lead, however once Ottawa settled in, they claimed the lead and never looked back. Outscoring Carleton 25-11 in the third quarter, the Gee-Gees put the game out of reach despite a solid close to the game by the Ravens.

Jacques-Mélaine Guemeta led the way for Ottawa with 22 points, three steals, three rebounds, and two assists. Dragan Stajic impressed throughout with 13 points, seven rebounds, six assists, and three steals. Justin Ndjock-Tadjore had 13 points, eight rebounds, and three steals as well in a well-rounded outing. Off the bench, Khalifa Koulamallah was a key sparkplug with 13 points on 5-8 shooting with five rebounds and three assist.

Ottawa's noteworthy effort on the defensive end saw the team log 15 total blocks and 13 turnovers. Matthew Smith was responsible for seven of the Gee-Gees blocks, pushing his season total to 42 blocks on the season.

What They're Saying:

"This is a special game – it's a special moment. I feel like a lot of people don't get to experience something like this. So, getting to soak in every second of it and coming out with a win against our rivals is a big victory for us. We want to keep building momentum going forward." – Gee-Gees captain Dragan Stajic.

"It's always a different energy playing at TD Place. Yes, it's another regular season game, but it's Capital Hoops, it's Ottawa against Carleton in a stadium filled with fans, the energy is always great." – Jacques-Mélaine Guemeta.

Up Next:

The Gee-Gees will take to the road for the final regular season weekend with stops in Oshawa and Kingston for matchups against Ontario Tech and Queen's. Friday night's game is set to tip off at 8 p.m. with Saturday's rivalry battle with the Gaels set to tip off at 6 p.m. Both games will be streaming live on OUA.tv.