(São Paulo, Brazil) The Canadian men squeezed out a 60-57 win over Argentina on Thursday evening at the Americas Cup.
The Canadians led 17-11 after the first and 34-27 at halftime but saw an 11-point lead evaporate late in the third quarter and into the fourth. Led by 15 points from Bo Hedges, Canada battled back to earn their first victory of the tournament.
Canada shot 38 per cent from the field and were 4 of 8 from three-point range in the win.
“We shot a higher percentage today, so that helped,” said Nik Goncin. “I think we felt we were a little bit more calm in the moment.”
Goncin chipped in 14 points, 11 rebounds, and six assists, while Colin Higgins added 14 points, 10 rebounds, and eight assists. Lee Melymick contributed 13 points and five rebounds in the win.
“We rewatched video of the game on Wednesday, and it was literally just the shooting,” Goncin said. “The shots were good; they just didn’t drop. The defence was fine, there was very little to fix, so today our gameplan was literally the same, but we shot a little bit better.”
Canada now awaits the conclusion of the preliminary round on Friday to determine their quarterfinals opponent. Full stats from Thursday’s victory can be found here.
On the women’s side, Canada improved to 2-0 at the Americas Cup following an 80-30 win over Guatemala on Thursday in São Paulo.
Canada opened the game on an 8-0 run and held a 46-10 lead at halftime. The women finished shooting 38 of 73 from the field and 12 per cent from three-point range in the victory.
Arinn Young paced the Canadians with 15 points and four rebounds, and Danielle DuPlessis added 13 points, 12 rebounds, and five assists.
“We worked on our communication, our chair contact on defence – there’s always something we can work on,” said Senior Women’s National Team Head Coach Marc Antoine Ducharme. “In the end, we’re happy with the result, we did the things we had to do, and I think we gave Guatemala a good game, and it was a good learning game for them too.”
Thursday’s game also allowed Ducharme to utilize some of his younger talent as Aurélie Jacob-Verreault and Sofia Fassi-Fehri saw their first minutes with the senior women’s team in the victory.
Jacob-Verreault contributed nine points, and six rebounds, and Fassi-Fehri added two points in the win.
“Everyone had a chance to play, everyone played well, and it gave a chance for Sofia and Aurélie to score their first baskets internationally – it was awesome,” Ducharme said.
The women wrap up the preliminary round on Friday morning against Bolivia. Tip-off is at 8:00 a.m. ET. Full stats from Thursday’s win can be found here.