| FINAL STANDINGS 1. Brazil 2. Puerto Rico 3. CANADA 4. Uruguay 5. Argentina 6. Mexico 7. Venezuela | CANADIANS Norman Clarke (Maypen, Jamaica) David Turcotte (Ottawa, Ont.) Eli Pasquale (Sudbury, Ont.) Karl Tilleman (Ogden, Utah) Alan Kristmanson (Vancouver, B.C.) Jay Triano (Tillsonburg, Ont.) Dwight Walton (Montreal, Que.) John Hatch (Calgary, Alta.) Barry Mungar (Ottawa, Ont.) Romel Raffin (Toronto, Ont.) Wayne Yearwood (Montreal, Que.) Gerald Kazanowski (Nanaimo, B.C.) Jack Donohue – coach Steve Konchalski – assistant coach Doc Ryan – assistant coach |
| ROUND ROBIN | BRA | PUR | CAN | URU | ARG | MEX | VEN | Record | ||
| Brazil | —– | 98-92 | 90-86 | 96-94 | 113-93 | 103-111 | 91-83 | (5-1) | ||
| Puerto Rico | 92-98 | —– | 80-63 | 82-80 | 94-81 | 80-71 | 65-63 | (5-1) | ||
| Canada | 86-90 | 63-80 | —– | 68-79 | 112-88 | 84-81 | 94-88 | (3-3) | ||
| Uruguay | 94-96 | 80-82 | 79-68 | —– | 82-90 | 98-84 | 100-67 | (3-3) | ||
| Argentina | 93-113 | 81-94 | 88-112 | 90-82 | —– | 91-89 | 110-77 | (3-3) | ||
| Mexico | 111-103 | 71-80 | 81-84 | 84-98 | 89-91 | —– | 100-93 | (2-4) | ||
| Venezuela | 83-91 | 63-65 | 88-94 | 67-100 | 77-110 | 93-100 | —– | (0-6) | ||
| Semi | Puerto Rico 62 Canada 60 | |
| Semi | Brazil 90 Uruguay 83 | |
| Bronze | Canada 87 Uruguay 70 | |
| Final | Brazil 101 Puerto Rico 92 | |
In its opener, Canada fell 80-63 to Puerto Rico. Led by some strong shooting by veteran forward John Hatch, Canada led 35-33 at the half. But Puerto Rico tightened its defence in the second half, forcing Canada out of its game plan and chipping away at the lead. Hatch said two fouls by Canada midway through the second half allowed Puerto Rico to surge ahead by six points. “We had to play catchup against a strong team, and our shooting went cold.” Jay Triano led Canada with 23.
Herbert Nunez scored 27 points and pulled down nine rebounds as host Uruguay rallied in the second half to beat Canada 79-68. Team captain Jay Triano scored a team-high 20 points. Barry Mungar added 16 points and grabbed seven rebounds. Canada opened with a 13-0 run and led 45-40 at the half. But Uruguay, which outrebounded Canada 20-8 offensively and recovered 14 loose balls, wore down the Canadians in the second half.
Canada defeated Argentina 112-68 as Jay Triano scored 30 and Karl Tilleman 26. Tilleman came off the bench in the first half to hit three straight three-point shots as Canada led by as much as 13 points and took a 51-44 advantage in at halftime. The Canadian team built on the lead in the second half with strong shooting from Triano. Eli Pasquale added 18, Barry Mungar 18 and John Hatch 10, along with 8 rebounds. Mungar also nabbed a team-high 14 rebounds.
Canada dropped a 90-86 decision to Brazil to close out round robin competition at 3-3. The Canadians missed four free throws with two minutes remaining and shot poorly from the line all night. But coach Jack Donohue said his team got everything out of the game but the win. “We had intensity, we controlled the tempo and we were able to rest our starters. I think we could have won except we missed a few foul shots, but I’m very proud of these guys.” Jay Triano led Canada with 15 points. Alan Kristmanson added 13, Wayne Yearwood 11 and John Hatch 11. Yearwood replaced starter and top rebounder Barry Mungar of Dundas, who injured his hamstring in Canada’s win over Argentina. He also nabbed 4 boards. “We’re very confident going into the playoffs,” said Yearwood. “We were trying a lot of different things on offence and defence with a lot of guys coming in off the bench, but we still kept their big guns in check. The game was definitely a positive thing.”
In the semis, Puerto Rico nipped Canada 64-62 after rallying from a 14-point deficit. Puerto Rico and Canada were tied 33-33 at the half, but the Canadians came out gunning in the second half to grab a 57-43 lead with about 10 minutes left. The Canadian shooters hit a cold spell and Puerto Rico closed the gap on a streak of three straight three-point shots to set the stage for Morales’ winning shot from inside the key. Canadian coach Jack Donohue said his players made some poor offensive decisions down the stretch. “Puerto Rico put a lot of pressure on us and we had trouble getting the ball to our forwards. We’re not dead, yet. We still get another shot at it Tuesday.”
Jay Triano of Niagara Falls scored a game-high 22 points, while Romel Raffin of Calgary added 10, and Eli Pasquale of Victoria and Karl Tilleman of Calgary scored eight each. “It was a picture-perfect game … But we gave it away at the end on three or four turnovers,” said Triano. “It was the match we wanted and it hurts to lose it, but we have to pick up our heads and try again.” Jose Ortiz led Puerto Rico with 16 points, while Ramone Gause added 14 and Morales 10.
In the third-place playoff, Canada defeated the host Uruguayans 87-70 to earn a berth in the Olympic draw. “They spit on us, cussed us and threw coins at us,” said Wayne Yearwood. “But we took it to their team.” Alan Kristmanson added: “hard floors and cold gyms. It can’t be exaggerated.” Eleven-year vet Jay Triano noted that “we had 12 guys against a whole country on international television and no one was cheering for us. Their media called it a fight to the death but we were the ones who hung tough.” With the win, Basketball Canada announced that the government had restored $150,000 to the team’s budget. “I want you to write down the names of the people in Canada who believed you would qualify,” Coach Jack Donahue told the team. The players scoffed. “This page is too big for that,” said Dave Turcotte. After the win, the Canadians draped towels over their heads as they ran to the lockers to protect themselves from coins thrown by Uruguayan fans. In front of 12,000 coin-throwing Uruguayan fans, and an international television audience, the gutsy Canadians outrebounded the tough Uruguay squad and built a commanding 49-27 lead in the first half. Uruguay, the top rebounding team in the seven-team round robin, fought back in the second half. But with 3:28 on the clock, two intentional fouls led to four points by Canada. That put the game completely out of reach, 80-64 for Canada. Jay Triano of Niagara Falls and Calgary’s John Hatch led the Canadian attack with 16 points apiece. Hatch and Romel Raffin of Calgary topped all rebounders with nine each. The Canadians turned the tables on the Uruguayan squad, which beat them 79-68 early in the tourney, by dominating the boards. Canada outrebounded Uruguay 40-33 last night.