CIS Final 8 Semifinal Saturday preview: host Ryerson due against Ottawa, but it is a pick 'em

Ottawa has the track record, while Ryerson has the home floor entering the all-Ontario tilt on Semifinal Saturday at the CIS Final 8.

The Gee-Gees own seven consecutive wins over the host Rams dating back to early 2013, including post-season eliminations in each of the past two seasons and an OUA bronze-medal game win on March 7, all in the nation's capital. Yet the margin between the rivals is razor-thin entering the showdown at Mattamy Athletic Centre (Sportsnet 360, 8:30 p.m. ET), which follows the Victoria Vikes-Carleton Ravens matchup (6 p.m.  ET).

"The thing about Ryerson is you play roulette," says Gee-Gees coach James Derouin, whose team is in its third consecutive national semifinal. "It's red, it's red, it's red, at some point it's going to hit black. They're an amazing team. We have all the respect in the world for them and their players and their talent. We know how good they are. So with every game that we play, we're kind of like, 'when is it going to hit black?' And that's why, when we saw the draw, we're like, 'we've got Ryerson again.'

"We need to be better," Derouin adds. "We can't miss 15 free throws and give up 18 O-boards [offensive rebounds, as Ottawa did in its first-round overtime win against Bishop's] and beat Ryerson. It won't even be close if that is the case. Our guys know that. Ryerson looked great against Windsor and home court, semifinals, this is what they paid for — to have this game. We'll be ready. We'll be ready for Saturday."

Ryerson feeling no pressure 

The high-tempo Rams handled No. 2-seeded Windsor by 14 points on Thursday night, despite shooting an effective 49.2 per cent and occasionally being what coach Roy Rana called "sloppy" with ball management. As the 7 seed that finished fourth in the OUA, the Rams are taking the line that there's no pressure on them, even though downtown Toronto school most certainly didn't bid for the Final 8 just to play for the bronze medal on Championship Sunday.

"I don't think there's any pressure on us," Jahmal Jones, Ryerson's fifth-year guard, says. "The pressure is on the teams ranked higher than us. Windsor was higher than us. They were second place in the OUA and we were fourth. This is my last one and I'm going to enjoy it. There's no pressure on us."

Ottawa's 91-85 quarter-final win over Bishop's was practically an outlier. The Gee-Gees (regular-season play only) were second in CIS in three-point percentage behind (of course) Carleton, while the Gaiters were 42nd of 47 teams. Bishop's (10-of-21, 47.6 per cent) nearly doubled Ottawa (8-of-33, 24.2%) in long-range accuracy. The Gee-Gees did get big threes from guards Johnny Berhanemeskel and Mike L'Africain as they surged late in the fourth quarter and during the overtime.

"We're pretty locked in, where you don't have time to pat yourself on the back because the next team is going to punch you in the face," says the 6-foot-2 Berhanemeskel, who scored 11 of his 19 points during the fourth quarter. "We have a lot to improve come Saturday. There's no time to really reward yourself. You haven't won too much yet.

"Regular season is regular season, OUA is OUA," the CIS player of the year adds. "Come Saturday both teams are 1-0 this weekend. We're both playing to make sure we're playing [for the championship on] Sunday. We're going to play loose, they're going to play loose. They're going to come out fired up, their crowd is going to be fired up."

The Rams expect a boisterous hometown crowd.

"You could feel the buzz," Rana says of Thursday's win over Windsor. "It had a good energy to it."

Ryerson also keeps coming closer and closer against both Ottawa and Carleton. In the OUA semifinal on March 6, Ryerson led Carleton for three-plus quarters before losing by four. They were level with Ottawa in the bronze-medal game. Most of Ottawa's 13-point margin stemmed from a Berhanemeskel-led surge in the third quarter.

"We've had our battles with Ottawa," Rams guard Aaron Best says. "We each know what we're going to get from each other. We really have to play the whole 40 minutes.

"The crowd just intensifies our runs," Best adds. "Whenever we get a couple of baskets back-to-back-to-back, it just ramps it up to another level."

The game might swing based on which team's aim is true from three-point land. Ottawa has several deep threats, including forwards Caleb Agada and Vikas Gill, while Ryerson's third-year guard Adika Peter-McNeilly is a superb spot-up shooter. Adada's sleight of hand on steals poses a challenge at the other end of the court.

"He's the smooth one who doesn't get as much credit as he should," Jones says of Peter-McNeilly. "His pace is different than mine and he's very savvy. He's got an old man game. He doesn't do anything out of his comfort zone. You know what you're getting it from Adika. Aaron [Best] and I are the fast guys who can play out of control at times. But he's a matchup problen."

Carleton, Victoria have unique bond 

Carleton coach Dave Smart regularly takes his team to Victoria's annual Guy Vetrie Memorial Tournament in October. Smart and Vikes coach Craig Beaucamp also coached together for Canada at the 2011 Pan-Am Games. The teams also met in the Final 8 quarter-final in 2013. They're very well-acquainted for teams separated by three time zones.

The Ravens, for what it is worth, beat Victoria 80-64 five months ago. That's ancient history.

"I've been lucky enough to play them almost every single year, if not twice a year," says Vikes centre Chris McLaughlin, who had a 10-point, 11-rebound double-double against Dalhousie on Thursday. "They are kind of that benchmark where you know you have to beat to be successful at nationals. We use that at the beginning of every year to look forward and set our goals

"This year, we had a lot of new guys at the beginning of the year," McLaughlin adds. "We like to look back and believe we're a different team from when he first saw them in the beginning."

The Vikes are led on the floor by point guard Marcus Tibbs, a Seattle native who can penetrate and establish the pace of a game. Keeping the Ravens' 1-2 punch of Phil Scrubb and Thomas Scrubb and complementary guards such as Guillaume Boucard, Victor Raso, Gavin Resch and Connor Wood from running the floor will be paramount for the underdogs. Taking Phil Scrubb out of the game is also unlikely.

"Phil's seen every type of ball screen at this point," Beaucamp says. "We have to do what we do. You're not going to take Phil away. They got a supporting cast that I think most people forget that does a lot of other things, be it Tommy [Scrubb], Connor Wood, you name them. We got to get back in transition, make them play half-court. That's what we did [against Dalhousie] while we were a bit of a sideshow offensively.

"They [Carleton] are a lot different team now compared to when we played them in October," Beaucamp adds. "We match up a bit better style-wise than we do with Dalhousie. We have a level of familiarity."

The Vikes are the only obstacle standing in the way of a third consecutive all-OUA final. Four-time defending champion Carleton beat Ottawa and Lakehead in each of the past two seasons.

The newly implemented Friday rest day should be a boon to each team. The old three-day format often made past tournaments more as much about attrition as ability and adjustments.

"I'm certainly going to be the No. 1 guy being a fan of the day off if we ever have to vote on keeping it," Derouin says.

Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet.