| FINAL STANDINGS 1. Soviet Union 2. Yugoslavia 3. U.S.A. 4. Cuba 5. Spain 6. Brazil 7. Puerto Rico 8. CANADA 9. Mexico 10. Czechoslovakia 11. Argentina 12. Australia 13. Philippines 14. Central African Rep. | CANADIANS Alex Devlin (Edmonton, Alta.) George Rautins (Toronto, Ont.) Bill Robinson (Chemainus, B.C.) Martin Riley (Winnipeg, Man.) Robert Sharpe (Guelph, Ont.) Robert Stewart Michael Moser (Kitchener, Ont.) Jamie Russell (Burlington, Ont.) Ken McKenzie Romel Raffin (Toronto, Ont.) Lars Hansen (Copenhagen, Denmark) Phil Tollestrup (Raymond, Alta.) Jack Donohue – coach |
| POOL A | SOV | BRA | MEX | CAR | Record | |||||
| Soviet Union | —– | 79-60 | 95-80 | 140-48 | (3-0) | |||||
| Brazil | 60-79 | —– | 100-78 | 94-54 | (2-1) | |||||
| Mexico | 80-95 | 78-100 | —– | 106-82 | (1-2) | |||||
| Central African Rep | 48-140 | 54-94 | 82-106 | —– | (0-3) | |||||
| POOL B | USA | SPN | ARG | PHI | Record | |||||
| United States | —– | 114-71 | 109-86 | 135-85 | (3-0) | |||||
| Spain | 71-114 | —– | 96-89 | 117-85 | (2-1) | |||||
| Argentina | 86-109 | 89-96 | —– | 111-90 | (1-2) | |||||
| Philippines | 85-135 | 85-117 | 90-111 | —– | (0-3) | |||||
| POOL C | CUB | CAN | CZE | AUS | Record | |||||
| Cuba | —– | 80-79 | 61-60 | 92-79 | (3-0) | |||||
| Canada | 79-80 | —– | 83-75 | 80-69 | (2-1) | |||||
| Czechoslovakia | 60-61 | 75-83 | —– | 89-84 | (1-2) | |||||
| Australia | 79-92 | 69-80 | 84-89 | —– | (0-3) | |||||
| CLASSIFICATION | MEX | CZE | ARG | AUS | PHI | CAR | Record | |||
| Mexico | —– | 94-84 | 96-94 | 85-84 | 101-84 | 106-82 | (5-0) | |||
| Czechoslovakia | 84-94 | —– | 113-91 | 89-84 | 119-112 | 113-70 | (4-1) | |||
| Argentina | 94-96 | 91-113 | —– | 100-102 | 111-90 | 121-70 | (2-3) | |||
| Australia | 84-85 | 84-89 | 102-100 | —– | 100-101 | 96-67 | (2-3) | |||
| Philippines | 84-101 | 112-119 | 90-111 | 101-100 | —– | 87-86 | (2-3) | |||
| Central African Rep | 82-106 | 70-113 | 70-121 | 67-96 | 86-87 | —– | (0-5) | |||
| MEDALS POOL | SOV | YUG | USA | CUB | SPN | BRA | PUR | CAN | Record | |
| U.S.S.R. | —– | 79-82 | 105-94 | 83-66 | 100-71 | 79-60 | 87-76 | 92-60 | (6-1) | |
| Yugoslavia | 82-79 | —– | 88-91 | 101-83 | 79-71 | 84-60 | 93-85 | 102-99 | (6-1) | |
| United States | 94-105 | 91-88 | —– | 83-70 | 114-71 | 103-83 | 94-76 | 115-94 | (6-1) | |
| Cuba | 66-83 | 83-101 | 70-83 | —– | 84-75 | 85-80 | 97-98 | 80-79 | (3-4) | |
| Spain | 71-100 | 60-84 | 71-114 | 75-84 | —– | 93-91 | 102-86 | 73-86 | (2-5) | |
| Brazil | 60-79 | 71-79 | 83-103 | 80-85 | 91-93 | —– | 73-68 | 75-74 | (2-5) | |
| Puerto Rico | 76-87 | 85-93 | 76-94 | 98-97 | 86-102 | 68-73 | —– | 79-74 | (2-5) | |
| Canada | 60-92 | 99-102 | 94-115 | 79-80 | 86-73 | 74-75 | 74-79 | —– | (1-6) | |
In their opener, Canada overwhelmed Australia 89-69 by dominating the boards as a result of their superior height. Jamie Russell paced Canada with 12 points. Lars Hansen added 12, Mike Moser 12, Alex Devlin 10, Bill Robinson 9, Ken McKenzie 8, George Rautins 8, Phil Tollestrup 7 and Martin Riley 2, while Robert Sharpe, Robert Stewart and Romel Raffin were scoreless. Alex Devlin and Lars Hansen each added 8. Canada led 40-36 at the half. Eddie Palubinskas paced Australia with 17. Rocky Crosswhite added 15, Ray Tomlinson 9, Andris Blicavs 6, Richard Duke 6, Ken Burbridge 4, John Maddock 4, Toli Koltuniewicz 4, Ian Watson 3 and Brian Kerle 1, while Mark Lampshire and Glen Marsland were scoreless.
Canada then stunned Czechoslovakia 83-75 using a 1-2-2 defence which the Czechs found extremely difficult to resolve. Bill Robinson paced Canada with 23 points. The Czechs dominated the first half, leading by as many as 11 before Canada switched to the zone with six minutes to play and the tide turned. The Czechs led 42-40 at the half but Canada pulled away midway through the second frame when Robinson hit a pair of field goals. George Rautins added 18, Phil Tollestrup 12, Jamie Russell 10, Alex Devlin 8, Mike Moser 4, Ken McKenzie 4 and Lars Hansen 4, while Martin Riley, Robert Sharpe, Robert Stewart and Romel Raffin were scoreless. Zdenik Kos paced the Czechs with 23. Jan Bobrovsky added 13, Zdenek Dousa 13, Jaroslav Beranek 9, Jir Zidek 8, Gustav Hraska 3, Pavel Pekarek 3, Kamil Brabanec 2 and Jiri Zednicek 1, while Jaroslav Skala, Vojtech Petr and Zdenek Hummel were scoreless.
Canada closed out pool C play by dropping an 80-79 decision to Cuba. The Cubans took the lead with two minutes to play and held on for the win. Alejandro Urgelles Guibot paced Cuba with 23. Alejandro Lazaro Ortiz Herrera added 19, Pedro Chappe Garcia 16, Ruperto Herrera Tabio 12, Tomas Herrera Martinez 5, and Miguel Angel Calderon Gomez 4, while Juan Roca Brunet, Rafael Canizares Poey, Conrado Perez Armenteros, Oscar Varona Varona and Jose Miguel Alvarez Pozo were scoreless. Phil Tollestrup led Canada with 18 points. Jamie Russell added 17, Bill Robinson 16, Alex Devlin 12, Ken McKenzie 8 and Lars Hansen 8, while George Rautins, Martin Riley, Robert Sharpe, Robert Stewart, Mike Moser and Romel Raffin were scoreless.
Canada finished (2-1) in pool C play and qualified for the medals pool.
In its first medals pool game, Canada dropped a 115-95 decision to the Americans. The U.S. took a 24-7 lead at the start and never looked back. Canada briefly closed to within 10 points at 61-51 in the second half as Jamie Russell and Mike Moser began scoring in the paint and Bill Robinson began hitting from the corners. But Tom Boswell and John Lucas regained command and the Americans coasted to the easy win. “We just didn’t play well in the first 15 minutes of the game and there isn’t any excuse,” said coach Jack Donahue, who’d been appointed coach of the national team in 1972. “They put us too much in the hole and after going down by almost 20 points, it’s tough to break out of that. … I’d say that Jamie Russell did the job for us today, but we played listlessly. Now we have to go back and determine what the problem was.” John Lucas paced the U.S. with 22 points. Tom Boswell added 22, Eugene Short 12, Luther Burden 12, Gus Gerard 10, Rich Kelley 8, Joe Meriweather 6, Quinn Buckner 6, Steve Grote 5, Frank Oleynick 5, Myron Wilkins 4 and Rick Schmidt 2. Ken McKenzie led Canada with 18. Phil Tollestrup added 14, Mike Moser 14, Bill Robinson 12, Jamie Russell 10, Romel Raffin 7, Lars Hansen 7, Alex Devlin 5, Robert Sharpe 4, George Rautins 2 and Martin Riley 1 while Robert Stewart was scoreless. McKenzie, Russell and Lars Hansen each nagged 9 boards as Canada out-rebounded the U.S. 31-25.
Canada then defeated Spain 86-73 on solid man-to-man defence and stellar front court play by Phil Tollestrup and Jamie Russell. The key was stopping Wayne Brabender and holding him to 20 points in the second half, said coach Jack Donahue. “We knew that to stop Brabender would mean to stop Spain. And I think he was pretty much out of the game in the second half. He got 10 points but he couldn’t score when they needed him.” Canada opened with a zone in the second half and Spain responded with an 8-0 run to trim the margin to 52-49 after two minutes of play. Donahue switched Bill Robinson to Brabender and he didn’t get another shot until Canada had regained a 68-57 lead on buckets by Tollestrup and Russell. “Going into that zone was probably a mistake but we wanted to cut off Brabender. Robinson, of course, did a better job s against his man-to-man. Canada opened the game with four big men, 7-0 Lars Hansen, 6-10 Ken McKenzie, 6-6 Phil Tollestrup and 6-7 Jamie Russell. “We know that we’re going to have to go with big men in order to win big,” Donahue said. “And by that, I mean beating teams like the Soviet Union, the United States and Yugoslavia. I don’t think we’ve ever used Hansen and McKenzie in there together before.” The move was rewarded with an early 28-18 lead. Tollestrup led Canada with 23 points. Jamie Russell added 20, Lars Hansen 14, Ken McKenzie 13, Bill Robinson 10, George Rautins 4 and Mike Moser 2, while Alex Devlin, Martin Riley, Bob Sharpe, Robert Stewart, Romel Raffin were scoreless. McKenzie nabbed 12 boards, while Rautins and Russell each nabbed 4. Wayne Donald Brabender Cole paced Spain with 18. Miguel Angel Estrada Cobena added 15, Luis Miguel Santillana Fraile 10, Jesus Iradier Nunez 10, Vicente Ramos Cecilio 6, Cristobal Rodriguez Hernandez 2, and Clifford Luyk Diem 2, while Carmelo Cabrera Dominguez, Rafael Rullan Ribera, Juan Antonio Corbalan Alfocea; Jose Luis Sagi-Vela Fernandez-Perez and Manuel Flores Sanchez were scoreless. “We played as well today as we did against Cuba and Spain is a good team,” Donahue said. “A win like that makes you feel good and these kids are learning what it takes to win in international play.”
Canada then dropped a 75-74 decision to Brazil as Carlos Massoni snared a rebound and hit a 10-foot jumper with three seconds to play. Canada had taken the lead with 18 seconds on clock when Bill Robinson drained a 30-foot jumper. Canada quickly in-bounded the ball after Massoni’s jumper and Ken MacKenzie tipped in a desperation 35-foot bomb by Alex Devlin that rimmed out. Referee Aldo Albanesi of Italy ruled the bucket good but the official scorekeeper said McKenzie had the ball in his possession at the buzzer. “I knew the shot was too late,” said coach Jack Donahue. “But at first the referee said it was good and we took it at that.” The scorekeeper said the referee must not have seen the clock. Canada took an early 19-5 lead after limiting the Brazilians to three points over the final eight minutes of the first quarter. But Brazil’s man-to-man defence took command in the second quarter. “We stopped running. We stopped rebounding and we stopped playing defence. And those are the things this team does well. You can’t play lousy when you’re playing the eight best teams in the world,” said Donahue. Brazil took a 38-28 lead at the half. Canada knotted the score seven times before Mike Moser hit a layup with 5:29 to play. But Roberto Correa countered with a bucket and foul shot 30 seconds late and Brazil inched ahead until Robinson’s final bucket. The Brazilians worked the ball around before Adilson Nascimento missed a layup with seven seconds to play, setting the stage for Massoni the grab the rebound and pot the winner. Ubiratan Pereira Maciel led Brazil with 27. Marcos Antonio Abdalla Leite ‘Marquinhos’ 13, Milton Setrini Junior ‘Carioquinha’ 9, Washington Joseph ‘Dodi’ 8, Roberto Jose Correa ‘Robertao’ 8, Jose Geraldo de Casto ‘Ze Geraldo’ 6, Adilson de Freitas Nascimento 2 and Carlos Domingos Massoni ‘Mosquito’ 2, while Luis Carlos de Almeida Peixoto ‘Peixotinho’, Helio Rubens Garcia, Lazaro Henrique Garcia and Marcel Ramon Ponikwar de Souza were scoreless. Bill Robinson paced Canada with 25. Jamie Russell 14, Lars Hansen 10, Phil Tollestrup 8, Ken McKenzie 8, Mike Moser 4, Alex Devlin 3 and George Rautins 2, while Martin Riley, Bob Sharpe, Robert Stewart and Romel Raffin were scoreless.
Yugoslavia then defeated Canada 102-99 in overtime as Dragan Kicanovic went on a one-man scoring spree in the final five minutes. Kicanovic hit four consecutive 25-footers down the stretch as Yugoslavia pulled out the win. He added a pair more in overtime. “I am pleased and very proud for these kids,” said coach Jack Donahue. “They deserved to win. They played the best second half they have ever had and against world champions. That Yugoslav team is no fluke. They are really good.” Yugoslavia led 53-39 at the half and came out slowly as Ken McKenzie, Phil Tollestrup, Alex Devlin and Jamie Russell began chipping away at the margin. Tollestrup hit a jumper as Canada took a 73-72 lead before Kicanovic hit the four jumpers. Centre Kresimir Cosic added a layup and 1:30 and tapped in a two-pointer with 44 seconds to clock to knot the score at 92. Canada never led in overtime. Cosic hit a layup and Kato Turner hit a long jumper as the Yugoslavs gained the early lead. McKenzie hit a pair of free throws. Kicanovic hit another jumper, as did Develin before Russell hit a free throw to trim the margin to 100-99. But Cosic hit the insurance marker in the paint with 38 seconds on the clock and the Yugoslavs held Canada scoreless the remainder of the way. Dragan Kicanovic paced Yugoslavia with 32. Damir Solman added 12, Zeljko Jerkov 12, Kresimir Cosic 10, Dragan Kapicic 12, Nikola Plecas 8, Ratomir Tvrdic 6, Vinko Jelaovac 5, Drazen Dalipagic 4 and Milun Marovic 1, while Zarko Knezevic and Zoran Slavnic were scoreless. Ken McKenzie paced Canada with 21. Bill Robinson added 20, Jamie Russell 18, Alex Devlin 16, Lars Hansen 10, Mike Moser 8, Martin Riley 3 and Phil Tollestrup 3, while George Rautins, Robert Sharpe, Robert Stewart and Romel Raffin were scoreless.
The Soviet Union crushed Canada 92-60 by hitting 61 per cent from the floor. Canada looked listless, coach Jack Donahue said. “We’re less used to playing this kind of competition day in and day out and it’s been hard. But that’s no excuse. We were tired, sure, but we also didn’t play a very good game. The Soviet Union beat us by playing a great game, like they usually do.” The USSR built a 47-29 lead at the half and Donahue soon went deep into his bench. “Actually, I don’t think we played that poorly because we did a few things defensively, like keeping the ball away from Alexander Belov for a while, that I wanted to see.” Yurij Pavlov paced the Soviet Union with 17. Sergej Belov added 12, Priit Tomson 12, Aleksandr Belov 11, Valerij Miloserdov 10, Modestas Paulauskas 8, Ivan Edeshko 8, Aleksandr Kharchenkov 6, Vladimir Zhigilij 6 and Aleksandr Salnikov 2, while Aleksandr Boloshev and Aleksandr Bolshakov were scoreless. Jamie Russell led Canada with 10 points. Ken McKenzie added 9, Lars Hansen 8, Phil Tollestrup 8, Romel Raffin 7, Alex Devlin 4, Martin Riley 4, Robert Sharpe 4, Mike Moser 4 and Robert Stewart 2, while Bill Robinson was scoreless.
Puerto Rico edged Canada 79-74 as Ruben Rodriguez Leon scored 20, Michael Vicens 13, Luis Brignoni Alvarez 10, Teofilo Cruz Downs 8, Neftali Rivera Olivera 6, Carlos Bermudez 6, Jimmy Thordsen Lasvitt 6, Mariano Ortiz Marrero 6, Ruben Montanez 4, while Hector Blondet Teixidor, Raymond Dalmau Perez and Jose Pacheco were scoreless. Ken McKenzie and Lars Hansen each scored 14 to pace Canada. Jamie Russell added 12, Mike Moser 12, Phil Tollestrup 9, George Rautins 8 and Alex Devlin 5, while Bill Robinson, Martin Riley, Robert Sharpe, Robert Stewart and Romel Raffin were scoreless.
The all-tournament team featured MVP Dragan Kicanovic (Yugoslavia); John Lucas (USA); Luther Burden (USA); Tom Boswell (USA); Aleksandr Belov (Russia); Alex Salnikov (Russia); Kresimir Cosic (Yugoslavia); Alejandro Urgelles (Cuba); Bill Robinson (Canada); Ken Mackenzie (Canada); Wayne Brabender (Spain); and Hector Blondet (Puerto Rico).