| FINAL STANDINGS 1. Brazil 2. Puerto Rico 3. Argentina 4. Canada 5. Dominican Republic 6. Uruguay 7. Panama 8. Mexico 9. Venezuela Virgin Islands | CANADIANS Jermaine Anderson (Toronto, Ont.) Joel Anthony (Montreal, Que.) Ryan Bell (Orleans, Ont.) Jermaine Bucknor (Edmonton, Alta.) Aaron Doornekamp (Napanee, Ont.) Carl English (Patrick’s Cove, Nfld.) Olumuyiwa Famutimi (Toronto, Ont.) Levon Kendall (Vancouver, B.C.) Tyler Kepkay (Vancouver, B.C.) Kyle Landry (Calgary, Alta.) Andy Rautins (Syracuse, N.Y.) Jesse Young (Peterborough, Ont.) Leo Rautins – coach Mike Malone – assistant Wayne Yearwood – assistant Renato Pasquali – assistant Sam Gibbs – therapist Paul Elliott – manager Jake Presutti – video coordinator Andrew Pipe – physician Maurizio Gherardini – managing director |
| POOL A | PUR | URU | CAN | MEX | VGI | Record | |||||
| Puerto Rico | —– | 71-54 | 90-70 | 81-66 | 85-74 | (4-0) | |||||
| Uruguay | 54-71 | —– | 71-69 | 54-49 | 88-62 | (3-1) | |||||
| Canada | 70-90 | 69-71 | —– | 95-40 | 87-67 | (2-2) | |||||
| Mexico | 66-81 | 49-54 | 40-95 | —– | 80-63 | (1-3) | |||||
| Virgin Islands | 74-85 | 62-88 | 67-87 | 63-80 | —– | (0-4) | |||||
| POOL B | BRZ | ARG | DOM | PAN | VEN | Record | |||||
| Brazil | —– | 76-67 | 81-68 | 84-64 | 87-67 | (4-0) | |||||
| Argentina | 67-76 | —– | 89-87 | 80-55 | 69-85 | (2-2) | |||||
| Dominican Republic | 68-81 | 87-89 | —– | 100-87 | 78-73 | (2-2) | |||||
| Panama | 64-84 | 55-80 | 87-100 | —– | 80-71 | (1-3) | |||||
| Venezuela | 67-87 | 85-69 | 73-78 | 71-80 | —– | (1-3) | |||||
| QUARTERFINALS POOL | BRZ | ARG | PUR | CAN | DOM | URU | PAN | MEX | Record | ||
| Brazil | —– | 76-67 | 82-86 | 68-59 | 81-68 | 82-62 | 84-64 | 92-61 | (6-1) | ||
| Argentina | 67-76 | —– | 80-78 | 67-51 | 89-87 | 73-66 | 80-55 | 77-65 | (6-1) | ||
| Puerto Rico | 86-82 | 78-80 | —– | 90-70 | 85-76 | 71-54 | 79-51 | 81-66 | (6-1) | ||
| Canada | 59-68 | 51-67 | 70-90 | —– | 80-76 | 69-71 | 97-65 | 95-40 | (3-4) | ||
| Dominican Republic | 68-81 | 87-89 | 78-85 | 76-80 | —– | 80-74 | 100-87 | 86-73 | (3-4) | ||
| Uruguay | 62-82 | 66-73 | 54-71 | 71-69 | 74-80 | —– | 77-83 | 54-49 | (2-5) | ||
| Panama | 64-84 | 55-80 | 51-79 | 65-97 | 87-100 | 83-77 | —– | 67-74 | (1-6) | ||
| Mexico | 61-92 | 65-77 | 66-81 | 40-95 | 73-86 | 49-54 | 74-67 | —– | (1-6) | ||
| Semi | Brazil 73 Canada 65 | |
| Semi | Puerto Rico 85 Argentina 80 | |
| Bronze | Argentina 88 Canada 73 | |
| Final | Brazil 61 Puerto Rico 60 | |
Shortly before the start of the tournament, Cuba withdraw, saying that it was not playing at a level that would make the team competitive.
Canada opened by pounding Mexico 95-40, holding the Mexicans to the lowest offensive output in FIBAS America history. The Canadians opened with a 30-13 first quarter and romped. Olu Famutini racked up 10 first-quarter points while Tyler Kepkay finished the period a 70-foot heave at the buzzer. In the second quarter, the “Road Warriors” defence limited Mexico to seven points while extending Canada’s lead to 49-21 at the half and 78-33 after three quarters. Canada led by as many as 55. “We’re an energy team,” coach Leo Rautins said. “We have to play a high-energy game in any situation, but especially in an environment like this where Mexico has to play the late game night before. It’s critical to come out and take advantage of whatever scheduling quirks there are and I thought our guys did a great job coming out ready to play. To hold any team at this level to 40 points – whether they’re tired or not – it’s a pretty good job. I was very impressed our guys in terms of the effort there.” Guard Andy Rautins said “our main goal was to keep them off the glass and rebound because that’s how we won against them last time. We outrebounded them by 30 last time and that was one of our main goals this game. … Our No. 1 priority going into the game was taking their best player, Romel Beck (Castro) out of the game. We were resolute in terms of not allowing him any opportunities and he only had three points on 1-9 shooting after having 26 against Puerto Rico. To hold any team at this level to 40 points, whether they’re tired or not, it’s a pretty good job. I was very impressed with our guys in terms of the effort.” Andy Rautins paced Canada with 18 on 6-9 from the arc. Carl English added 17 on 1-4 from the floor and 5-7 from the arc. Joel Anthony notched 11 on 5-7 from the floor, 1-1 from the line, 5 boards, 3 steals and 2 blocks. Jermaine Bucknor scored 11 on 1-1 from the floor, 3-5 from the arc and 5 boards. Olumuyiwa Famutimi added 10 on 2-5 from the floor, 2-4 from the arc, 6 assists and 3 steals. Tyler Kepkay notched 8 on 1-3 from the floor, 2-4 from the arc and 4 assists. Jesse Young scored 7 on 3-5 from the floor, 1-4 from the line and 9 boards. Jermaine Anderson added 5 on 1-2 from the floor, 3-3 from the line and 7 assists. Levon Kendall scored 5 on 2-8 from the floor, 1-2 from the line and 11 boards. Aaron Doornekamp added 3 on 1-3 from the arc, 4 boards and 5 assists, while Ryan Bella and Kyle Landry were scoreless. Canada shot 16-38 (.420) from the floor, 19-33 (.580) from the arc and 6-10 from the line, while garnering 47 boards, including 13 on the offensive glass, 30 assists, 21 fouls, 13 turnovers, 10 steals and 4 blocks. Noe Alonzo Chavez paced Mexico with 10 on 3-6 from the arc. Gustavo Alfonso Ayon Aguirre added 6 on 2-6 from the floor and 10 boards. Karim Malpica Torres added 4, Lorenzo Real Aguilar 4, Jesus Lopez 3, Adam Parada De Low Reyes 3, Romel Beck Casto 3, Anthony Pedroza Durazo 2, Miguel Ayala 2, Omar Quintero 2 and Enrique Zuniga Castro 1, while Horacio Llamas was scoreless. Mexico shot 20-38 (.260) from the floor, 3-22 (.110) from the arc and 11-23 (.480) from the line, while garnering 30 boards, including 10 on the offensive glass, 9 assists, 13 fouls, 15 turnovers, 8 steals and 2 blocks.
Canada captured its second win by thrashing the U.S. Virgin Islands 87-67 by dominating the paint and capitalizing on turnovers for transition buckets. Canada led 24-14, 44-26 and 64-48 at the quarters. Canada was held scoreless for nearly four minutes early in the second quarter yet lost no ground and when Jermaine Anderson sparked an 11-2 run to finish the first half with a four-point play. “There’s a lot of things that have to happen for a team to be successful, and you have to have players willing to sacrifice,” said coach Leo Rautins. “Tonight was a typical Jesse (Young) performance. He goes out, rebounds, makes plays, scores. Whatever we need done out there, he gets it done. If you’re holding a team to under 70 [points], which is what we did today, by international standards today with a 24-second shot clock, that’s very, very good defence.” Young said “when you blow someone out by 55, it almost sometimes hurts you. But for us to come out today and have the same determination right from the get go and get a big lead in the first half, it’s great to see.” Jesse Young paced Canada with 14 on 4-7 from the floor, 6-7 from the line, 7 boards and 2 blocks. Olumuyiwa Famutimi added 12 on 2-4 from the floor, 1-1 from the arc, 5-6 from the line, 4 boards and 2 steals. Andrew Rautins added 11 on 2-2 from the floor, 1-7 from the arc, 4-4 from the line, 5 assists and 3 steals. Levon Kendall added 8 on 4-8 from the floor and 8 boards. Joel Anthony added 8 on 2-4 from the floor, 4-4 from the line and 2 blocks. Jermaine Anderson 8 on 1-1 from the floor, 2-3 from the arc, 3-3 from the line and 4 assists. Aaron Doornekamp notched 7 on 2-5 from the floor and 1-3 from the arc. Carl English added 6 on 2-4 from the arc and 5 boards. Jermain Bucknor scored 5, Tyler Kepkay 4 and Kyle Landry 4, while Ryan Bell was scoreless. Canada shot 20-43 (.480) from the floor, 7-22 (.320) from the arc and 26-28 (.930) from the line, while garnering 38 boards, including 10 on the offensive glass, 17 assists, 26 fouls, 12 turnovers, 14 steals and 5 blocks. Walter Hodge led the Virgin Islands with 18 on 1-7 from the floor, 3-4 from the arc, 7-8 from the line, 5 assists and 3 steals. Kevin Sheppard added 10 on 1-3 from the floor, 1-6 from the arc, 5-6 from the line and 4 assists. Jason Edwin added 9, Kitwana Rhymer 8, along with 11 boards and 2 blocks, Cuthbert Victor 7, Phillip Jones 6, Reginald Freeman 5 and David Cooper 4, while Rasheem Richards, Aaron Brown, Calvert White and Gregory Washington were scoreless. The Virgin Islands hit 24-37 (.380) from the floor, 6-20 (.300) from the arc, and 21-28 from the line, while garnering 31 boards, including 12 on the offensive glass, 13 assists, 24 fouls, 21 turnovers, 6 steals and 4 blocks.
Canada then dropped a 71-69 decision to Uruguay after squandering a five-point lead with two minutes to play. Canada opened with an 8-2 run but Martin Osimani led a 7-0 run to give Uruguay a 9-8 lead after a three-pointer with 5:13 left. Uruguay led 25-16 after one quarter. Canada rallied to within 36-31 at the half.
Canada regained the lead in the third quarter but Uruguay ended
the period with a 9-1 run to go up 51-47. In the final quarter Canada made an
11-1 run led by Famutimi, Jesse Young and Joel Anthony to take a 58-54 lead with
5:48 left. Then Uruguay made a final push thanks to Garcia Morales, Osimani and
Batista to get the win. Osimani made a three-pointer to give Uruguay a 70-67
lead with 20.6 seconds left, then made a free throw to ice a 71-69 win.
Coach Leo Rautins said “we got away from what we need to do. We did a good job
the first two games but just didn’t come out with the same intensity and focus
that we needed. We didn’t match Uruguay’s intensity and had a lot of mental
mistakes. We got away from what we need to do to be successful. That certainly
hurt us in the ball game, especially down the end. There were a lot of three-point
shots available in the first two games. Certainly, the competition was not the
same as today. Uruguay was a much stronger defensive team and those shots were
not as available and we took a lot of questionable shots. The timing of some of
the shots was not good and those are the mental mistakes along with turnovers
that we can’t afford to make if we want to be successful.” Joel Anthony said “we
put ourselves in a position to win but we still had to play from behind which
is difficult. It came down to a last second shot at the end of the game and we
weren’t able to get it. I give credit to Uruguay because they played really
tough against us and didn’t give us anything easy. It was a tough game.”
Esteban Batista Hernandez paced Uruguay with 18 on 8-13 from the floor, 2-4
from the line and 12 boards. Martin Osimani added 14 on 1-2 from the floor, 3-8
from the arc, 3-4 from the line, 9 assists and 3 steals. Leandro Garcia Morales
scored 11 on 2-8 from the floor and 5-5 from the line. Mauricio Aguiar added 10
on 1-3 from the floor, 2-3 from the arc and 2-2 from the line. Gustavo Barrera
Castro added 8 on 1-3 from the arc, 5-7 from the line and 4 assists. Reque
Newsome Linder added 8 on 3-7 from the floor. Emilio Taboada added 2, while
Sebastian Izaguirre Rodriguez, Diego Gonzalez Correa, Gaston Paez, Juan
Silveira Vargas and Nicolas Borselino were scoreless. Uruguay shot 14-28 from
the floor, 8-23 (.350) from the arc and 19-26 (.730) from the line, while
garnering 20 boards, including 7 on the offensive glass, 14 assists, 19 fouls,
17 turnovers and 7 steals. Jesse Young paced Canada with 20 on 7-10 from the
floor, 6-8 from the line, 8 boards and 2 blocks. Joel Anthony added 13 on 6-7
from the floor, 1-3 from the line, 6 boards and 2 blocks. Carl English added 12
on 1-2 from the floor, 2-5 from the arc, 4-4 from the line and 5 boards.
Jermaine Anderson added 9 on 2-4 from the floor, 5-5 from the line and 6
assists. Olumuyiwa Famutimi notched 9 on 3-3 from the floor and 1-4 from the
arc. Andy Rautins added 3 on 1-5 from the arc. Levon Kendall scored 3 on 2-2
from the arc, 4 boards and 3 assists, while Tyler Kepkay, Ryan Bell, Jermaine
Bucknor, Aaron Doornekamp and Kyle Landry were scoreless. Canada shot 19-30
(.630) from the floor, 5-22 (.230) from the arc and 16-20 from the line, while
garnering 28 boards, including 8 on the offensive glass, 15 assists, 26 fouls,
17 turnovers, 4 steals and 4 blocks.
Canada closed
out pool A play by getting whipped 90-70 by Puerto Rico. Canada fell behind early
in the first quarter as Elias Ayuso put up 10 points helping Puerto Rico to a
23-14 lead going into the second. Puerto Rico began pulling away in the second,
going on 6-0 run before Andy Rautins hit his second trey cutting the deficit to
34-20 with just over five minutes left in the half. Joel Anthony’s hook shot
cut the lead to 13 points with 30 second left, but Isaac Rivera’s driving layup
gave the Puerto Ricans a 45-30 lead at the half. Jesse Young and coach Rautins
received technical fouls with 4:53 left in the third quarter and the Canadians
found themselves down by 20 on five free throws, four from Ayuso and one from
Peter John Ramos who was fouled on the next play.
Bermudez Arroyo nailed a three, then drew a foul on Canada’s Jermaine Anderson
— his fourth of the game — and nailed all three free throws to put his team up
50-33. Canada opened the fourth down 65-41 as Rautins poured in two threes and
cut the deficit to 67-47. But Guillermo Jose Gonzalez answered back with a
three of his own and Daniel Santiago dunked to push the lead to 24 in the romp.
“It’s a tournament and in these events, you’re playing eight games in nine days
and you have to be ready to play every game,” said Canadian coach Leo Rautins. “You
need every win you can get and every game is critical. There’s no time to feel
sorry for yourself, and I don’t know if our guys felt sorry for themselves not
winning yesterday’s game, but there’s no time for that in a tournament like
this.” Carlos Arroyo Bermudez paced Puerto Rico with 16 on 2-4 from the floor,
2-3 from the arc and 6-7 from the line. Elias Ayuso added 16 on 3-3 from the
floor, 2-7 from the arc and 4-4 from the line. Filiberto Rivera Isaac added 13
on 2-2 from the floor and 3-4 from the arc. Peter Ramos Fuentes added 9,
Guillermo Diaz Gonzelez 9, Angel Vassallo Colon 8, Ricardo Sanchez Rosa 8,
Daniel Santiago 6, along with 8 boards, Christian Dalmau 3 and Carmelo Lee 2,
while Luis Villafane Silva and Angelo Reyes were scoreless. Puerto Rico hit 19-35
(.540) from the floor, 12-26 (.460) from the arc and 16-21 (.760) from the
line, while garnering 32 boards, including 10 on the offensive glass, 12 assists,
20 fouls, 10 turnovers, 6 steals and 2 blocks. Andy Rautins paced Canada with
18 on 6-10 from the arc. Joel Anthony notched 13 on 6-12 from the floor, 1-2
from the line, 10 boards and 2 blocks. Tyler Kepkay added 11 on 3-3 from the
arc and 2-2 from the line. Carl English scored 11 on 2-6 from the floor, 2-2
from the arc, 2-2 from the line, 3 assists and 4 steals. Jermain Anderson added
9 on 1-3 from the floor, 1-4 from the arc, 4-4 from the line, 2 boards and 2
assists. Olumuyiwa Famutimi added 4, Aaron Doornekamp 2, Kyle Landry 1 and
Levon Kendall 1, while Jesse Young was scoreless as he nabbed 6 boards. Ryan
Bell and Jermain Bucknor were also scoreless. Canada shot 12-32 (.380) from the
floor, 12-23 (.520) from the arc and 10-17 (.590) from the line, while
garnering 29 boards, including 8 on the offensive glass, 14 assists, 17 fouls,
12 turnovers, 7 steals and 2 blocks.
Canada finished (2-2) in pool A round robin play, advancing to the quarterfinal medals pool with a (1-2) record.
Canada dropped its third consecutive decision after suffering a 67-51 whipping at the hands of Argentina in their first quarterfinals pool match. Argentina started the game with two straight three-pointers, one by Kammerichs and another by Paolo Quinteros with 7:42 left. English responded with a three of his own followed by two baskets to make it 9-7 Argentina with just under four minutes left in the first quarter. The period ended with Argentina up by two points, 15-13. In the second quarter Canada came back and tied it at 24 after a basket by Tyler Kepkay who completed a 7-0 run midway through the period. But Argentina’s Gutierrez hit two straight three pointers to give his team a 30-24 lead. Young and English each hit baskets to bring Canada to 28, but Argentina managed to expand the lead to 36-28 at the half. Canada had no answer for Gutierrez who drained three perimeter shots in the third quarter alone. Scola also made his mark, scoring six points in two minutes midway through the period. Missed baskets and turnovers resulted in Canada getting only 10 points in the period, while Argentina netted 20. The Canadians fought to get back in the game, and while the team outscored Argentina in the fourth quarter 13-11, the deficit was just too great. “Argentina showed that they are one of the top teams,” said Canadian coach Leo Rautins. “They played outstanding basketball and are a very smart team. Obviously, you can’t win a game the way we played today. You can’t have 23 turnovers and not execute. We basically beat ourselves and you can’t play basketball that way. We have to find a way to get out of this.’ Carl English said “the teams are playing very well so we have to come out and change the way we start, more like [we did against] Mexico. I think I personally have to do a better job in getting my teammates involved and not turn over the ball as much. As a team we just have to get hungry and believe. I think our confidence is low and we just have to get out there and run.” Leonardo Gutierrez paced Argentina with 15 on 5-7 from the arc. Guillermo Kammerichs added 13 on 5-5 from the floor, 1-2 from the arc, 7 boards and 5 steals. Luis Scola Balvoa added 12 on 5-12 from the floor, 2-2 from the line and 9 boards. Pablo Prigioni added 8 on 1-2 from the floor, 2-5 from the arc, 7 assists and 6 steals. Alfredo Quinteros added 7, Darlos Sandes 4, Leonardo Mainoldi 3, Juan Cantero 3 and Diego Garcia 2, while Roman Gonzalez, Andres Pelussi and Juan Gutierrez Lanas were scoreless. Argentina shot 15-37 (.410) from the floor, 10-23 (.430) from the arc and 7-7 from the line, while garnering 31 boards, including 7 on the offensive glass, 15 assists, 12 fouls, 14 turnovers, 16 steals and 2 blocks. Carl English paced Canada with 17 on 7-10 from the floor, 1-5 from the arc and 6 boards. Jesse Young added 13 on 6-10 from the floor, 1-1 from the line and 4 boards. Tyler Kepkay scored 8 on 4-5 from the floor, 3 boards and 3 assists. Olumuyiwa Famutimi added 6 on 3-6 from the floor. Andy Rautins scored 3, Levon Kendall 2, along with 4 boards and Joel Anthony 2, while Jermaine Anderson, Ryan Bell, Jermain Bucknor, Aaron Doornekamp and Kyle Landry were scoreless. Canada shot 22-42 (.540) from the floor, 2-16 (.130) from the arc and 1-4 from the line, while garnering 37 boards, including 10 on the offensive glass, 12 assists, 12 fouls, 23 turnovers, 6 steals and 1 block.
Canada fell to (1-4) in quarterfinal pool play by dropping a 68-59 decision to Brazil. “We had a real good effort,” said Canadian coach Leo Rautins. “You look at most of the stats and we took care of business the way that we needed to. Unfortunately, Brazil’s experience and some of our mental mistakes down the stretch cost us. But that’s the type of effort we need going forward in the final two games. We stuck to a game plan, had a strong effort defensively, and that’s exactly what we need to finish this out. Leandro Barbosa’s a great example of that old saying in the NBA, when your best player is your hardest worker, you’re going to have a pretty good team. He really sets the tone for Brazil, on both ends of the floor, with his attitude. He’s an unbelievable player.” Canada took an early 11-9 lead but Barbosa was a force to be reckoned with on offence as he scored 12 of 13 points for Brazil to tie the game with 2:36 left. Canada was hit with a technical foul with 19 seconds left in the first and Barbosa made three of four free throws to give Brazil the lead, 18-15. In the second, Canada continued with tough defence from Anthony and team captain Jesse Young but Brazil’s Varejao was a force under the net. Within the first five minutes both teams had already collected nine defensive boards apiece. A fast break by Rautins brought Canada to within 24-22. While Brazil always had an offensive answer, Canada pushed on offensively with great plays by Tyler Kepkay, Aaron Doornekamp and a dunk by Anthony to give him five points in the game, and bring the score to 36-33 Brazil at the half. “We outrebounded them, turned it over less than them and those were the two big things we wanted to do today,” stated Doornekamp. “We wanted to work them and limit their points off our turnovers. We were right there with the best team in the tournament.” Brazil started the third with a 10-4 run in the first two minutes with support from Giovannoni. After making two free throws midway through the period, Carl English collected his fourth foul and was forced to sit the rest of the period. Doornekamp hit a three with 2:30 left to bring Canada to within three, 48-45. Barbosa answered, collecting his 21st point as the team went on a 7-0 run. Canada battled on as Famutimi hit a big three and followed up with a rebound. A basket by Young brought Canada to within 52-50 at the end of the third. The final quarter opened with Varejao and Barbosa hitting baskets, as Brazil went on 7-2 run with seven minutes left in the game. Canada had several opportunities in the final minutes to close the gap, but Brazil’s defence made it challenging to get in the paint. Canada made some mistakes down the stretch while Brazil showed their offensive power as the bench players also helped to secure the win. “Our youth comes into play and there were lapses,” admitted Rautins. “We had a solid defensive game, but offensively had a couple of breakdowns and a few missed shots and you just can’t afford that against a team like Brazil. Every possession is critical but that’s part of the learning unfortunately of being the youngest team here. We have to not get frustrated, not get down and continue to play through it.” Leandro Barbosa paced Brazil with 31 on 8-10 from the floor, 3-6 from the arc, 6-7 from the line and 2 steals. Marcelo Huertas added 10 on 3-7 from the floor, 4-5 from the line and 5 boards. Anderson Varejao added 8 on 3-5 from the floor, 2-3 from the line, 7 boards and 3 blocks. Guilherme Giovannoni added 8 on 3-4 from the floor, 2-2 from the line and 6 boards. Alex Ribeiro Garcia added 6 on 2-6 from the floor, 2-2 from the line and 6 boards. Marcelo Magalhaes Machado added 3 and Tiago Splitter Beims 2, while Eduardo Magalhaes Machado, Diego Pinheiro da Silva, Carlos Rodriguez Do Macimineto, Joao Lopes Batista and Jonathan Guimaraes Tavernari were scoreless. Brazil hit 19-36 (.530) from the floor, 4-16 from the arc and 18-21 (.860) from the line, while garnering 33 boards, including 8 on the offensive glass, 8 assists, 14 fouls, 15 turnovers, 7 steals and 3 blocks. Levon Kendall paced Canada with 12 on 6-9 from the floor and 7 boards. Olumuyiwa Famutimi added 10 on 2-8 from the floor, 2-2 from the arc, 5 boards and 2 steals. Joel Anthony added 10 on 3-12 from the floor, 4-6 from the line, 4 boards, 2 steals and 2 blocks. Carl English added 8 on 1-3 from the floor, 1-2 from the arc, 3-4 from the line, 5 boards and 3 assists. Tyler Kepkay scored 5 on 1-3 from the floor and 1-2 from the arc. Aaron Doornekamp scored 5 on 1-4 from the floor, 1-2 from the arc and 4 boards. Jesse Young added 4 on 2-3 from the floor. Jermaine Anderson notched 3 on 1-4 from the floor, 1-2 from the line, 5 boards and 2 assists. Andy Rautins added 2, while Ryan Bell, Jermaine Bucknor and Kyle Landry were scoreless. Canada shot 18-47 (.380) from the floor, 5-15 from the arc and 8-12 from the line, while garnering 34 boards, including 14 on the offensive glass, 14 assists, 26 fouls, 12 turnovers, 7 steals and 2 blocks.
Canada finally collected a quarterfinals pool win by stuffing Panama 97-65. “I felt that we gained a lot of confidence yesterday against Brazil and we just brought that intensity that we needed to play at each end of the floor,” said coach Leo Rautins. “The nice thing about today’s game is that everybody played, everybody contributed so our legs are fresh and hopefully we are in a good position.” Canada controlled all facets of the match and shot the ball well. Panama jumped to an early lead but Canada made a 12-2 run in the final minutes, including 10 points by English to close the first quarter up 22-15. In the second quarter, Canada continued sharp from long distance led by English and Jermaine Bucknor, who added eight points, to give Canada a substantial 45-24 lead at the half. Jesse Young dominated the second half. Canada led by as many as 33 and romped. Andy Rautins paced Canada with 23 on 2-3 from the floor, 5-7 from the arc and 4-4 from the line. Carl English added 16 on 4-5 from the floor, 2-7 from the arc, 2-2 from the line, 3 boards and 4 assists. Jesse Young notched 14 on 3-9 from the floor, 8-8 from the line, 3 boards and 2 blocks. Olumuyiwa Famutimi added 10 on 2-3 from the floor, 2-2 from the arc and 2 steals. Joel Anthony scored 8 on 3-8 from the floor, 2-2 from the line and 5 boards. Jermaine Bucknor scored 8 on 1-1 from the floor, 2-4 from the arc and 4 boards. Jermaine Anderson added 7 on 1-3 from the floor, 1-2 from the arc, 2-2 from the line, 5 assists and 2 steals. Aaron Doornekamp scored 7 on 1-2 from the floor, 5-6 from the line, 3 boards and 4 assists. Tyler Kepkay added 2 on 1-2 from the floor, 4 boards and 3 steals. Kyle Landry added 2, while Ryan Bell and Levon Kendall were scoreless. Canada shot 19-39 (.490) from the floor 12-27 (.440) from the arc and 23-24 (.960) from the line, while garnering 34 boards, including 11 on the offensive glass, 23 assists, 14 fouls, 7 turnovers, 14 steals and 3 blocks. Danilo Pinnock paced Panama with 21 on 4-9 from the floor, 2-9 from the arc, 7-9 from the line, 6 boards and 2 steals. Jose Lloreda Ferron added 17 on 6-14 from the floor, 5-5 from the line and 10 boards. Joel Munoz Castillo added 7, Ernesto Ogilvie 6, Jamar Warren Green 6, Joel Tesis 5 and Maximiliano Gomez Torres 3, while Orlando Ortega, Eduardo Archibold, Reyjavick DeGracia Castillo, Ricardo Lindo Kirkland and Leonardo Pomare Jones were scoreless. Panama shot 19-40 (.480) from the floor, 4-17 (.240) from the arc and 15-19 (.790) from the line, while garnering 36 boards, including 10 on the offensive glass, 6 assists, 19 fouls, 20 turnovers, 3 steals and 2 blocks.
Canada qualified for the 2010 world championships in Turkey by edging the Dominican Republic 80-76 as Aaron Doornekamp hit a pair of critical treys in the final minutes. “I told our guys, ‘You haven’t failed over the past few years . . . you haven’t been ready,”’ said coach Leo Rautins. “In 2007, we weren’t ready. In 2005, we weren’t ready. Last year, at the wild card (Olympic) qualifier, we weren’t ready. When you look at this tournament, we’re the youngest team by a couple of years. The fact that these guys can overcome that, and come together as a group, I’m really proud of them.” With the teams trading baskets in a tight fourth quarter, Jermaine Anderson converted a rare four-point play – making a three-pointer and hitting the ensuing free throw – to give Canada a 69-64 lead. Doornekamp’s first three midway through the quarter extended the lead to 72-66, and after the Dominicans trimmed the lead to one on a pair of Jack Martinez free throws, Doornekamp hit another three with 1:26 remaining to put Canada back up by four. Miami Heat forward Joel Anthony hit a pair of free throws in the final minute to preserve the lead, and Andy Rautins added a pair to put the game out of reach. Although Canada trailed by five points at the midway point, Rautins said he was encouraged by the team’s first-half defence – and knew it was only a matter of time before the shots started falling. “We had good looks. Quite honestly, we didn’t have great movement. I wasn’t worried whether we were gonna get a shot, it was a question of (using) our movement to get better shots. I honestly felt during the course of the game, whether we got down or we got up, there was a sense of calm with this team. Whatever was going to happen on the floor was okay, we were going to get through it.” The Dominicans used an 8-0 run to erase an early five-point deficit, and escaped the first quarter with a 16-13 lead. The advantage grew to seven points before Jermaine Bucknor capped a Canada spurt with a three-pointer that evened the game 23-23. Consecutive baskets from Martinez and Carlos Morban restored the Dominicans’ five-point lead, and they finished the half up 35-30. Trailing by eight early in the third quarter, Canada stormed back with a 12-2 run in a span of two-and-a-half minutes to seize the lead. Anderson had five points during the run, and added a three-pointer late in the quarter to put Canada back in front 50-48. English followed with back-to-back threes, but the Dominicans closed with a 6-0 run to even the score at 56 after three quarters. Rautins hopes the win will silence critics of the Canadian basketball program, which has had to make do without NBA superstar Steve Nash of Victoria and Montreal’s Samuel Dalembert, a centre with the Philadelphia 76ers. “These guys have taken a lot of crap,” said Rautins. “They’ve been crapped on, they’ve been ignored, they’ve been put down. Unfairly so, because the people who have criticized them are really not aware of what we’re up against in the world of basketball. To see these guys achieve this, honestly, it’s as satisfying a feeling as I can imagine having. It’s tremendous.” Jermaine Anderson paced Canada with 21 on 2-3 from the floor, 5-8 from the arc, 2-3 from the line and 5 assists. Carl English added 13 on 2-5 from the floor, 3-6 from the arc, 4 assists and 2 steals. Jesse Young added 11 on 4-8 from the floor, 3-4 from the line and 3 boards. Levon Kendall notched 10 on 3-7 from the floor, 1-2 from the arc, 1-2 from the line, 11 boards, 2 assists and 2 steals. Aaron Doornekamp aced 8 on 2-3 from the arc, 2-2 from the line and 5 boards. Jermaine Bucknor added 6 on 2-5 from the floor. Andy Rautins scored 5 on 1-2 from the arc, 2-2 from the line and 5 assists. Joel Anthony scored 4 on 1-4 from the floor, 2-2 from the line and 6 boards. Olumuyiwa Famutimi added 2 on 1-5 from the floor and 4 assists, while Tyler Kepkay, Ryan Bell and Kyle Landry were scoreless. Canada shot 13-35 (.370) from the floor, 14-27 (.270) from the arc and 12-15 (.800) from the line, while garnering 33 boards, including 9 on the offensive glass, 22 assists, 17 fouls, 14 turnovers, 8 steals and 2 blocks. Charlie Villanueva Mejia paced the Dominican Republic with 17 on 6-15 from the floor, 1-5 from the arc, 2-3 from the line and 5 boards. Luis Flores Matias added 17 on 3-7 from the floor, 3-7 from the arc, 2-2 from the line, 6 boards and 2 steals. Alfred Horford Reynoso added 14 on 6-11 from the floor, 2-2 from the line, 14 boards, 3 assists and 3 blocks. Jack Martinez notched 12 on 4-10 from the floor, 4-5 from the line and 11 boards. Carlos Morban Rivera added 8, Kelvin Pena De La Cruz 5 and Juan Coronado Gil 3, while Marlon Martinez Vasquez, Francisco Garcia, Alejandro Flores Salas, Franklin Western Canales and Ricardo Greer were scoreless. The Dominican Republic shot 25-51 (.490) from the floor, 5-21 (.240) from the arc and 11-13 (.850) from the line, while garnering 44 boards, including 18 on the offensive glass, 18 assists, 12 fouls, 14 turnovers, 6 steals and 7 blocks.
Canada finished (3-4) in quarterfinals pool play, in 4th place, qualifying for both the medal round and the 2010 Worlds.
In the semis, Brazil defeated Canada 73-65. Leandro Barbosa led Brazil in the first quarter with 6 points to finish tied at 17. Joel Anthony led Canada with 6 points and Levon Kendall 4. The game stayed close in the second quarter and Marcelinho Machado tied the game at 25 with 2:22 left and scored another basket with 1:48 to give Brazil a two-point lead. At halftime the score was 28-27 in favor of Brazil. “We felt it all the way through the first half,” said Canadian coach Leo Rautins. “Every timeout, I was telling [the] guys, ‘We gotta find it guys, we gotta dig in, we gotta start pushing harder.’ Quite honestly, Brazil was the same way. They just had a little stretch in the third quarter where they were just able to find some energy, and that kind of turned the game.” In the third quarter, Brazil pulled away led by Leandro Barbosa, Anderson Varejao and Alex Garcia and finished up 54-40. The Canadians did make a game of it in the fourth. Trailing 69-50, Canada buried three three-pointers as part of a 12-0 run that cut the lead to six. They trimmed the margin to 69-63 on a trey by Jermaine Bucknor. But with just 25 seconds left in the game, the Canadians were forced to foul – and Marcelo Magalhaes made no mistake, burying all four of his free throws in the final moments to clinch the win. “It was a close game in the first half, at the beginning of the fourth quarter we kept our defensive effort but Canada is always playing hard and were close to us,” said Brazilian forward Anderson Varejao. “They are two great teams which we obtained different results, we won over Argentina and lost to Puerto Rico. We have to come out focused in order to win the Gold.” Rautins said “the guys were just emotionally spent from [Friday]. I think there was so much excitement in qualifying [for the world championship] and accomplishing our primary goal for being here, it was very difficult for our players to recover today. It’s unfortunate, because I think it was a winnable game. I think physically we were OK, I could just tell by the players emotionally, looking into their eyes, the energy we need to play with — and have played with in the games we won — it just wasn’t there. I think physically we were okay. I could just tell by looking at the players that the energy that we need to play with and have played with in the games that we won, it just wasn’t there in this particular game.” Post Joel Anthony said “I guess in some ways we came down from that high level [Friday] and ended up being a little flat. We were able to keep it close in the first half, but in the second half they were really able to pull away.” Leandro Barbosa paced Brazil with 22 on 8-11 from the floor, 2-6 from the arc and 4 boards. Anderson Varejao added 16 on 6-7 from the floor, 1-1 from the arc, 1-4 from the line, 8 boards and 4 blocks. Marcelo Magalhaes Machado added 15 on 1-5 from the floor, 3-8 from the arc and 4-4 from the line. Alex Ribeiro Garcia notched 10 on 3-5 from the floor, 1-4 from the arc, 1-2 from the line and 5 assists. Tiago Splitter Beims added 6 on 2-3 from the floor and 4 assists. Guilherme Giovannoni added 4 on 1-3 from the floor and 6 boards, Marcelo Hertas dished 8 assists and was scoreless, along with Eduardo Magalhaes Machado, Diego Pinhero da Silva, Carlos Rodriguez Do Nacimineto, Joao Lopes Batista and Jonathan Guimaraes Tavernari. Brazil hit 22-39 (.560) from the floor, 7-24 (.290) from the arc and 8-14 (.570) from the line, while garnering 37 boards, including 10 on the offensive glass, 21 assists, 17 fouls, 12 turnovers, 9 steals and 5 blocks. Joel Anthony paced Canada with 17 on 5-11 from the floor, 7-8 from the line and 8 boards. Andy Rautins added 12 on 3-5 from the floor, 2-5 from the arc and 4 assists. Jermaine Bucknor notched 10 on 3-4 from the floor, 1-5 from the arc, 1-2 from the line, 4 boards and 3 assists. Olumuyiwa Famutimi notched 9 on 1-4 from the floor, 1-2 from the arc and 4-6 from the line. Jermaine Anderson scored 6 on 2-2 from the floor. Levon Kendall added 4, Kyle Landry 2, Jesse Young 2, Aaron Doornekamp 2 and Ryan Bell 1, while Tyler Kepkay and Carl English were scoreless. Canada shot 16-40 (.400) from the floor, 6-16 (.380) from the arc and 15-20 from the line, while garnering 36 boards, including 8 on the offensive glass, 19 assists, 20 fouls, 14 turnovers, 5 steals and 2 blocks.
In the bronze medal match, Argentina thrashed Canada 88-73. The Argentines jumped to a quick 10-2 lead after a three-pointer by Federico Kammerichs with 7:18 left in the first quarter. Then they made a 12-0 run to break away 22-6 after two three-pointers by Alfredo Quinteros. The Argentines ended the first quarter up 31-8. At halftime the score was 49-18 as Argentina continued their efficient offensive attack. In the second half, Argentina kept its double-digit lead and Canada kept playing hard to try to find an offensive rhythm, but they missed the shooting touch of Carl English, who had to leave the tournament to attend to a family matter. The third quarter ended 68-46 for Argentina. Canada outscored Argentina 55-39 in the second half but that first-half hole was just too deep to get out of. “We used all our emotion up and we didn’t manage to recover and bring it back for these last two games, which were still huge games for us,” forward Kyle Landry said. “It was one thing to qualify for the worlds, it would have been another thing entirely if we were able to medal and establish ourselves even more on the world stage.” Canadian coach Leo Rautins said “this tournament has provided us with some very special things in terms of understanding preparation at every stage of a tournament, accomplishing a tremendous goal, recovering and regrouping. It’s those things that will take a young team like ours to a very different level. … When you’re a young team, everybody you’re facing has not only years of experience with their national team but they have a tremendous amount of experience in international basketball. Say we’re the youngest team by a year or two. That year or two is actually far more significant, far larger than that in terms of international experience. We’re overcoming a major obstacle there.” Kyle Landry said “we had a pretty bad first half. No one really came out with the energy and emotion that we needed to play against a team like Argentina. The second half, we came together. We played hard for each other. We made a good game of it.” Luis Scola Balvoa paced Argentina with 27 on 9-19 from the floor, 9-12 from the line, 4 boards, 4 assists and 2 steals. Pablo Prigioni added 17 on 1-1 from the floor, 5-14 from the arc and 8 assists. Alfredo Quinteros notched 13 on 2-5 from the floor, 2-3 from the arc and 1-1 from the line. Juan Cantero scored 11 on 3-4 from the arc, 2-2 from the line and 4 boards. Carlos Sandes added 6, Leonardo Gutierrez 4, Roman Gonzalez 4, Andres Pelussi 3 and Guillermo Kammerichs 3, while Leonardo Mainoldi, Diego Garcia and Juan Gutierrez Lanas were scoreless. Argentina shot 19-39 (.490) from the floor, 12-31 (.390) from the arc and 14-19 (.740) from the line, while garnering 39 boards, including 13 on the offensive glass, 18 assists, 18 fouls, 7 turnovers and 6 steals. Jermaine Anderson paced Canada with 19 on 6-8 from the floor, 1-5 from the arc, 4-5 from the line, 4 boards, 11 assists and 3 steals. Levon Kendall added 12 on 5-6 from the floor and 2-2 from the line. Aaron Doornekamp scored 11 on 3-5 from the arc, 2-2 from the line and 3 boards. Kyle Landry notched 10 on 4-6 from the floor, 2-3 from the line and 5 boards. Joel Anthony added 9 on 4-6 from the floor, 1-3 from the line and 3 boards. Olumuyiwa Famutimi scored 8 on 2-8 from the floor, 1-4 from the arc, 1-2 from the line, 9 boards and 3 assists. Jesse Young added 2 and Tyler Kepkay 2, while Ryan Bell, Jermaine Bucknor, Carl English and Andy Rautins were scoreless. Canada shot 23-43 (.530) from the floor, 5-17 (.290) from the arc and 12-17 (.710) from the line, while garnering 35 boards, including 8 on the offensive glass, 15 assists, 20 fouls, 14 turnovers, 6 steals and 2 blocks.