The 2011-2012 CIS Men's Basketball Champions Carleton Ravens kicked off the their CIS Men's Basketball title defense buy outlasting the visiting Buffalo Bulls 77-75.

Tyson Hinz poured in game-high 26 points, 17 of those coming in an almost perfect half, Hinz shot 4-of-5 from the floor and a perfect 8-of-8 from the charity stripe.

The game was played in Carleton's secondary gym, the old, hot and sweaty Norm Fenn Gymnasium where a standing room got a their first glimpse of the new look Ravens.

Sporting a revised roster that features several newcomers (Jean Pierre-Charles) and eligible transfers (Clinton Springer-Williams) the Ravens competed hard, fought for loose balls and added another quality win against a formidable NCAA Men's Basketball D1 team.

Starting Point Guard and 2011-12 CIS Basketball MVP Phillip Scrubb was out the line-up while resting a sore ankle, he was replaced in by Sophomore guard Gavin Resch who did an effective job finishing with 16 points including several key three-pointers.

The Ravens also got a good production from Junior Forward Thomas Scrubb with 10 points.

Much like their previous encounter four years ago, the game was close throughout and despite some sloppy moments it was played with regular season like intensity as both continue to prepare for their respective regular seasons.

Auraum Nuiriankh led the Bulls, who play in the NCAA Division I Mid-American Conference, with 14 points.

Buffalo drops its first game of their Canadian tour and sit at 2-1.

Carleton moves to 1-0 in the young season and will continue its NCAA/CIS preseason series against the highly touted UNLV Runnin' Rebels on Saturday.

Despite losing three-players to graduation the Ravens are as deep as they have ever been and perhaps more athletic than recent years.

“We’ve got so many new faces to try figure out what they can do, and when you can do that in August it’s better than doing it in October,” Smart said.

“We’re as talented as we’ve ever been, we just have no idea what we’re doing. Last year, we were a veteran team with a pretty decent amount of talent, so in August we looked good. This August we’re going to look awful.”