| FINAL STANDINGS: 1. U.S.S.R. 2. United States 3. CANADA 4. Bulgaria 5. Yugoslavia 6. Finland 7. Japan 8. Egypt 9. Belgium 10. South Korea 11. North Korea 12. Australia 13. Kuwait 14. China 15. Jordan 16. United Arab Emirates 17. Lebanon | CANADIANS Norman Clarke (Maypen, Jamaica) Cord Clemens (Surrey, B.C.) John Hatch (Calgary, Alta.) Gord Herbert (Penticton, B.C.) Gerald Kazanowski (Nanaimo, B.C.) Dan Meagher (Kingston, Ont.) George Papadakos (Toronto, Ont.) Eli Pasquale (Sudbury, Ont.) Tony Simms (Kingston, Jamaica) Byron Tokarchuk (Saskatoon, Sask.) Jay Triano (Tillsonburg, Ont./Simon Fraser) David Turcotte (Ottawa, Ont.) Jack Donahue – coach Steve Konchalski – assistant Olga Hrycak – apprentice Bruno Colavecchia – manager Andrew Pipe – doctor |
| POOL A | BUL | CAN | BEL | KOR | IVC | Record | ||
| Bulgaria | —– | 67-65 | 78-65 | 77-66 | 84-49 | (4-0) | ||
| Canada | 65-67 | —– | 99-77 | 96-65 | 90-57 | (3-1) | ||
| Belgium | 65-78 | 77-99 | —– | 61-57 | 68-64 | (2-2) | ||
| Korea | 66-77 | 65-96 | 57-61 | —– | 79-57 | (1-3) | ||
| Ivory Coast | 49-84 | 57-90 | 64-68 | 57-79 | —– | (0-4) | ||
| POOL B | USA | USSR | PKO | JOR | Record | |||
| United States | —– | 93-88 | 147-47 | 140-30 | (3-0) | |||
| Soviet Union | 88-93 | —– | 137-74 | 161-43 | (2-1) | |||
| North Korea | 47-147 | 74-137 | —– | 82-45 | (1-2) | |||
| Jordan | 30-140 | 43-161 | 45-82 | —– | (0-3) | |||
| POOL C | FIN | JPN | AUS | KUW | LEB | Record | ||
| Finland | —– | 78-72 | 97-56 | 85-58 | 160-43 | (4-0) | ||
| Japan | 72-78 | —– | 83-59 | 59-57 | 81-63 | (3-1) | ||
| Australia | 56-97 | 59-83 | —– | 65-62 | 2-0 | (2-2) | ||
| Kuwait | 58-85 | 57-59 | 62-65 | —– | 83-47 | (1-3) | ||
| Lebanon | 43-160 | 63-81 | 0-2 | 47-83 | —– | (0-4) | ||
| POOL D | YUG | EGY | CHN | UAE | Record | |||
| Yugoslavia | —– | 106-59 | 139-42 | 130-30 | (3-0) | |||
| Egypt | 59-106 | —– | 81-62 | 105-69 | (2-1) | |||
| China | 42-139 | 62-81 | —– | 79-48 | (1-2) | |||
| United Arab Emirates | 30-130 | 69-105 | 48-79 | —– | (0-3) | |||
| CONSOLATION 5-8th | YUG | FIN | JPN | EGY | Record | |||
| Yugoslavia | —– | 87-82 | 97-65 | 106-59 | (3-0) | |||
| Finland | 82-87 | —– | 78-72 | 103-62 | (2-1) | |||
| Japan | 65-97 | 72-78 | —– | 61-59 | (1-2) | |||
| Egypt | 59-106 | 62-103 | 59-61 | —– | (0-3) | |||
| QF 9-16th | Australia 95 Jordan 36 | |
| QF 9-16th | North Korea 93 Kuwait 72 | |
| QF 9-16th | Belgium 137 United Arab Emirates 58 | |
| QF 9-16th | South Korea 87 China 57 | |
| 13th-16th | Kuwait 95 United Arab Emirates 55 | |
| 13th-16th | China 61 Jordan 56 | |
| 9-12th | South Korea 105 Australia 90 | |
| 9-12th | Belgium 100 North Korea 68 | |
| 17th | Ivory Coast 110 Lebanon 72 | |
| 15th | Jordan 72 United Arab Emirates 67 | |
| 13th | Kuwait 82 China 79 | |
| 11th | North Korea 86 Australia 73 | |
| 9th | Belgium 90 South Korea 80 | |
| QFs | Canada 81 Yugoslavia 77 | |
| QFs | United States 123 Japan 68 | |
| QFs | U.S.S.R. 106 Finland 84 | |
| QFs | Bulgaria 87 Egypt 70 | |
| semi | U.S.S.R. 104 Canada 94 | |
| semi | United States 94 Bulgaria 66 | |
| Bronze | Canada 96 Bulgaria 95 | |
| Final | U.S.S.R. 96 United States 93 | |
In pool play, FISU flagbearer Jay Triano scores 35 as Canada defeats Belgium 78-65. Canada led 52-33 at the half and by as many as 31 in the second frame. Triano scored 19 in the first half. Belgium closed to within 95-77 late in the second half against Canada’s reserves but never seriously threatened.
Dan Meagher scores 24 and Eli Pasquale 19 as Canada defeats South Korea 96-65.
Canada thrashed Ivory Coast 90-57 as Jay Triano scored 26.
Canada suffered its first loss, 65-67 to Bulgaria, as a result of dreadful perimeter shooting. They hit .360 from the floor, while Bulgaria was .450. Canada was severely crippled by the foul trouble of centre Gerald Kazanowski. Jay Triano paced Canada with 20. Eli Pasquale added 17. “I think we did alright defensively but then we couldn’t get enough points to keep the game competitive, especially in the first half,” said coach Jack Donohue. Tzvetan Antov led Bulgarian with 15. Ivan Tzenov added 12. “We’ve put ourselves in a hole now,” added Donohue. “It means that we’ve got to move our way into a final round in a completely different manner. We’re just going to have to do it, that’s all.” It was generally a poor shooting day for the Canadians, who connected on just 36 per cent of their shots from the floor. “I think we did all right defensively, but then we couldn’t get enough points to keep the game competitive, especially in the first half,” said Donohue.
Canada advances to quarterfinals.
In quarterfinals, Canada defeated Yugoslavia 81-77 as Triano scores 26 and Simms 20. Petrovic led Yugoslavia with 25.
In the semis, against Russia, Canada loses 104-94. Canada rallied from a 17-point second half deficit to close within six points late in the game. But the taller Russians depth proved too much. Canada was out-rebounded 42-18, including 20-5 on the offensive glass. 7-2 centre Arvidas-Romas Sabonis and Valdemaras Khomitchus each 19 to lead the Soviet Union. Jay Triano, who finished as the tournament’s leading scorer, paced Canada with 27. “We got them in trouble but we just didn’t play a great game,” said Triano. “We shouldn’t say: hey, we only lost to the Russians by 10. We should be disappointed and we are. We didn’t bow out at all and we didn’t run back and few times and that cost us the ballgame.” Point guard Eli Pasquale picked up a pair of costly technicals and fouled out with 6:23 to play. Coach Jack Donohue was displeased with Pasquale’s lack of composure but said the officiating of Ian Ireland of Australia and La Bong Man of North Korea was weak. “One referee could not referee the game. The second one tried refereeing for a while. Then he stopped refereeing again.” Forward Tony Simms added 23 for Canada, while center Gerald Kazanowski scored 22.
In bronze medal match, Canada defeated Bulgaria 96-95. Canada trailed by 10, 92-82 with 2:10 to go. Reserve centre George Papadakos hit a bucket. Gord Herbert hit two free throws to bring Canada to within 94-91. With 35 seconds to go, Triano stole the ball and nailed a three-pointer from 23 feet to tie the game. Pasquale then stole the ball but was fouled. He hit both free throws with 12 seconds on the clock. Kostalliev was fouled with one second to go but only hit one free throw and Canada won. Coach Jack Donahue later called Pasquale’s performance “unbelievable” particularly the last steal. Donahue added that the referees seemed to be against Canada. Triano scored 29, Simms 25 including 19 in the second half. Pasquale 12, Hatch 9. Miladenov led Bulgaria with 31. Coach Jack Donohue says he hopes it doesn’t become a regular part of the game plan. “I’m not counting on doing this regularly, for crying out loud. I’ve got six kids at home and I don’t them to not have a father, which is what would happen if I had to go through this very often.” Jay Triano hit a trey with 35 seconds on the clock and Eli Pasquale hit a pair of free throws with 12 seconds to play to ice the victory. Triano said the game demonstrated the team’s spirit. “I think this game exemplifies it more than anything, more than the gold medal game at the last University Games in Edmonton, where we had the fans behind us. We just reached down within ourselves and came back into this game.” Canada trailed 92-82 with just over two minutes to play. “I knew we had them on the ropes,” said Donohue. “Actually, I was trying to figure out how I could get a job driving a bus or something that I might be more qualified for.” Backup forward Gord Herbert cut the game to 94-91 with a pair of free throws and Triano nailed his fourth trey to know the score. Pasquale then stole the ball from Georgi Mladenov and forced the Bulgarians to foul him, leading to the winning free throws. Mladenov led Bulgaria with 31 points. Pasquale’s first free throw bounced twice on the rim before falling through. The winner hit all net. Bulgaria’s Kosta Iliev had a chance to force overtime when he was fouled with one second to play. But he missed the first, setting off a raucous celebration by Canada. Triano led Canada with 29 points. Simms added 25, including 19 in the second half. Triano said “I had a couple of doubts but then I kept saying to myself, I’ve got eight months to remember this. I remember how long I thought about the bronze medal game against Yugoslavia in the Olympics (which Canada lost). That’s something I still think of. I said there was no way I was going to let two of these fourth-place finishes stick with me in my basketball career.” Pasquale said the squad could have won the title. “I feel good about it. We won a bronze. But I still feel like we had a legitimate shot of being in the gold medal game.”