The University of Toronto Varsity Blues men’s basketball team squares off in two critical games against the top two teams in the OUA as they travel to our nation’s capital to take on the No. 1 Carleton Ravens and No. 4 Ottawa Gee-Gees this weekend (Jan. 9-10).

The Blues currently sit two points behind both the Ravens and the Gee-Gees with a 6-3 record in the OUA East division and will rely heavily on the guard play of fourth-year guards Nick Magalas (Burlington, Ont.) and Rob Paris (St. Catharines, Ont.).

Ranked among the league’s top-20 scorers, both hit milestones just before the holiday break as Magalas recorded his 700th career point in an 88-64 win over the Brock Badgers (Nov. 28) and Paris tallied his 600th career point the next night (Nov. 29) when the Blues defeated the Guelph Gryphons 79-67.

London, Ont. native Nick Snow is 11 points away from joining Paris at the 600 career-point mark.

Aaron Doorenkamp (Odessa, Ont.) leads the defending OUA champion Ravens, averaging 16 points per game. Carleton is 7-1 in league action and claimed Dalhousie University’s 18th annual Rod Shoveller Memorial tournament championship, January 2-4.

The Ravens only loss of 2008-09 so far came in their first game of the season when they dropped an 80-68 decision to the Windsor Lancers. Last season, the Blues lost both games to the Ravens, 86-70 (Jan. 11, 2008) and 94-73 (Feb. 1, 2008).

Toronto last met Ottawa in the 2007-08 OUA quarter-finals where the visiting Gee-Gees came away with a heartbreaking 63-60 victory to end the Blues season.

Ottawa also holds a 7-1 record at the midway point of 2008-09 and are tied with Carelton for the top spot in the East. Josh Gibson-Bascombe (Toronto) and Dax Dessureault (Embrun, Ont.) lead the Gee-Gees, averaging 17.5 and 17.4 points per game, respectively.

Ottawa has recently added former NCAA Division I Syracuse Orange point guard Josh Wright (Utica, N.Y.) to their roster. Wright played over 20 minutes in each of his first three games with the Gee-Gees, scoring just under 17 points per game as Ottawa claimed the bronze medal at the 2009 Winnipeg Wesmen Classic tournament (Dec. 28-30).

The Blues will host the Gee-Gees and Ravens next month (Feb. 6-7) at the Athletic Centre Sports Gym. Toronto is currently undefeated at home in the 2008-09 regular season.