| FINAL STANDINGS 1. United States 2. Puerto Rico 3. Brazil 4. Mexico 5. Cuba 6. CANADA 7. Argentina 8. Venezuela 9. Bahamas 10. Virgin Islands | CANADIANS Steve Atkin Mike Brkovich (Windsor, Ont.) Cameron Hall (Hamilton, Ont.) Bob Sharpe (Guelph, Ont.) Leo Rautins (Toronto, Ont.) Jim Zoet (Uxbridge, Ont.) Phil Tollestrup (Raymond, Alta.) Lars Hansen (Copenhagen, Denmark) Robert Pound James Russell (Burlington, Ont.) Martin Riley (Winnipeg, Man.) Jack Donahue – coach Steve Konchalski – assistant |
| ROUND ROBIN | USA | PUR | BRZ | MEX | CUB | CAN | ARG | VEN | BAH | VIR | Record | |
| United States | —– | 85-53 | 87-62 | 99-70 | 85-53 | 84-73 | 103-62 | 97-32 | 113-55 | 136-88 | (9-0) | |
| Puerto Rico | 53-85 | —– | 100-85 | 85-71 | 89-85 | 74-76 | 117-101 | 84-77 | 107-92 | 115-93 | (7-2) | |
| Brazil | 62-87 | 85-100 | —– | 64-63 | 89-74 | 88-76 | 105-83 | 89-56 | 98-88 | 129-80 | (7-2) | |
| Mexico | 70-99 | 71-85 | 63-64 | —– | 73-76 | 74-89 | 93-77 | 110-45 | 93-87 | 111-90 | (5-4) | |
| Cuba | 53-85 | 85-89 | 74-89 | 76-73 | —– | 65-70 | 98-86 | 77-50 | 92-58 | 81-72 | (5-4) | |
| Canada | 73-84 | 76-74 | 76-88 | 89-74 | 70-65 | —– | 80-81 | 83-73 | 92-37 | 109-55 | (5-4) | |
| Argentina | 62-103 | 101-117 | 83-105 | 77-93 | 86-98 | 81-80 | —– | 80-64 | 83-92 | 124-85 | (3-6) | |
| Venezuela | 32-97 | 77-84 | 56-89 | 45-110 | 50-77 | 73-83 | 64-80 | —– | 74-70 | 98-86 | (2-7) | |
| Bahamas | 55-113 | 92-107 | 88-98 | 87-93 | 58-92 | 37-92 | 92-83 | 70-74 | —– | 114-91 | (2-7) | |
| Virgin Islands | 70-137 | 93-115 | 80-129 | 90-111 | 72-81 | 55-109 | 85-124 | 86-98 | 91-114 | —– | (0-9) | |
In the run-up to the tournament, Steve Atkin lost 14 pounds in 10 days after picking up a flu bug on pre-games tour of Dominican Republic. “I usually eat anything I can get my hands on but today I settled for a couple of bowls of cereal and some toast,” said the 6-8, 215 pound forward on July 5. Trainer Ray Jones said four players were suffering from the bug. “The guys have the runs but, unfortunately, most of the cures are on the banned list. Lomotil, for instance, is forbidden.”
Canada opened with a one-point loss to Argentina. The Canadians led by three with a minute to play and had several chances to ice it but repeatedly threw away the ball down the stretch. Canada led 22-10 after eight minutes but Argentina rallied with strong offensive boardwork and sloppy Canadian ball handling. “And the winning basket was scored on a tip-in,” said coach Jack Donohue. “That’s terrible. Even I could score on a tip-in. I told them, ‘if you’re going to lose, make them beat you with some skill. That’s just not a skilful way to lose’.” Leo Rautins scored 25 and centre Jim Zoet 20, including seven to open the second half to give Canada a nine-point lead in the raucous La Cancha Arena. “I don’t think they had anything against us,” said Rautins, recovering from diarrhea that had left bedridden a day earlier. “It’s something we expected, because of the language thing. The only time we can expect them to be our side down here is when we play the Americans. And the crowd controls the refs.” Coach Jack Donohue said “we have the talent. But we don’t concentrate.” Canada led 82-78 with 90 seconds to play 82-78. Mike Brkovich stole the ball but while dribbling, inadvertently stepped on the sideline. It was typical of the outing.
Canada defeated the Virgin Islands 109-55 in a match featuring a fist fight between Bob Sharpe and Islander Stephen Fredemi. Canada led 51-26 at the half as they penetrated at will and kept the Virgin Islands strictly on the perimeter. Cameron Hall paced Canada with 20. Robert Pound added 16, Lars Hansen 12, James Russell 12 and Martin Riley 10. Julius Testamark paced the Virgin Islands with 15. Canada out-rebounded the Virgin Islands 52-33 with Hansen collecting 11 boards.
Canada defeated Cuba 70-65 as Phil Tollestrup scored 22 and Lars Hansen 17.
Canada thrashed the Bahamas 92-37 as Jamie Russell scored 32, while nabbing 13 boards. Lars Hansen added 21 and Phil Tollestrup 14. Canada hit 39-84 from the floor and 14-14 from the line.