| FINAL STANDINGS 1. Puerto Rico 2. CANADA 3. Argentina 4. Brazil 5. Mexico 6. Cuba 7. Uruguay | CANADIANS Tom Bishop Rene Dolcetti Varouj Gurunlian (Montreal, Que.) Howard Kelsey (Vancouver, B.C.) Perry Mirkovich Ross Quackenbush Romel Raffin (Toronto, Ont.) Leo Rautins (Toronto, Ont.) Martin Riley (Winnipeg, Man.) Peter Ryan Jay Triano (Tillsonburg, Ont.) Jim Zoet (Uxbridge, Ont.) Jack Donahue – coach Steve Konchalski – assistant Ray Jones – trainer Ed Brown – manager Andrew Pipe – doctor |
| ROUND ROBIN | PUR | CAN | ARG | BRA | MEX | CUB | URU | Record | ||
| Puerto Rico | —– | 84-67 | 99-93 | 93-99 | 137-104 | 113-88 | 128-84 | (5-1) | ||
| Canada | 67-84 | —– | 89-86 | 98-81 | 102-79 | 77-74 | 111-72 | (5-1) | ||
| Argentina | 93-99 | 86-89 | —– | 118-98 | 104-79 | 86-75 | 97-86 | (4-2) | ||
| Brazil | 99-93 | 81-98 | 98-118 | —– | 92-90 | 78-76 | 95-82 | (4-2) | ||
| Mexico | 104-137 | 79-102 | 79-104 | 90-92 | —– | 88-70 | 98-87 | (2-4) | ||
| Cuba | 88-113 | 74-77 | 75-86 | 76-78 | 70-88 | —– | 103-81 | (1-5) | ||
| Uruguay | 84-128 | 72-111 | 86-97 | 82-95 | 87-98 | 81-103 | —– | (0-6) | ||
In their opener, Canada nipped Cuba 77-74 in overtime, as guard Martin Riley forced overtime by hitting a free throw to make it 67-67 and later netted the winning bucket in the extra session. Coach Jack Donahue said the bench proved the difference. “With two or our starters out of the game because of fouls (Zoet and Rautins), we had to use the bench and every guy that I asked to play came through for us.” Rautins paced Canada with 21 points. Zoet added 15, Jay Triano 10 and Riley 10.
In their second game, Canada clipped Mexico 102-79.
In their third game, the Canadians routed Uruguay 111-72 after taking a 63-31 lead at the half and extending to as many as 33 in the second frame. The Canadians opened the affair with a 18-0 run. Leo Rautins led Canada with 18. Howard Kelsey added 16 and Jay Triano 16, including 14 in the first half.
In their fourth game, Canada nipped Argentina to qualify for the Olympics as Jay Triano scored 24 including a bucket with no time left on the clock. Canada led 51-47 at the half and extended their lead to 11 in the second half before Brazil rallied to within one as Canada’s perimeter shooting went cold. But Martin Riley steadied the troops and Jim Zoet returned to the floor to retake command of the boards. “I knew we’d qualify, although it was a rough tournament,” said Zoet, who added 17. Leo Rautins notched 15, Riley 14 and Varouj Gurunlian 10.
In their fifth game, forward Romel Raffin celebrated his 26th birthday by scoring a career-high 20 points and leading the team in rebounds as Canada dumped Brazil. Jay Triano paced the Canadians with 28. Jim Zoet added 25, Leo Rautins 18 and captain Martin Riley 10. Canada controlled the tempo from the start as they build a 48-32 lead at the half. “We ran a high post whenever they ran a man to man,” said Triano. “We ran our cuts and passed well. At the start, we hit our first seven or eight shots and that seemed to get them down. We got up by 15, we just maintained our intensity.”
In their final game, the Canadians fell 84-67 to host Puerto Rico despite 18 points from Martin Riley, 14 from Leo Rautins and 12 from Jim Zoet.
Canada finishes tied for first but were placed second because of the loss to Puerto Rico. Canada qualified for the Olympic draw but did not participate after the government decided that the country would boycott the games in the opposition to the Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan.