SMNT defeated Brazil 69-53 on Thursday
(Dubai, UAE) – The Senior Men’s National Team is through to the quarterfinals at the IWBF World Championships following a 69-53 victory over Brazil on Thursday afternoon.
With the win, Canada will play the Netherlands on Friday in the quarterfinals at 6:30 a.m. ET.
“It’s awesome. There’s a lot of good teams here, so to make it to the Top 8, that’s a nice achievement, but we’re not satisfied yet,” said Colin Higgins. “We know we have a tough opponent tomorrow. Enjoy the moment here, but we’ve got to refocus and reset for tomorrow.”
Higgins paced Canada with a game-high 22 points, six rebounds and four assists. Nik Goncin added 14 points, eight assists and five rebounds, while Garrett Ostepchuk chipped in 12 points.
Canada jumped out to a 15-9 lead after one quarter, led 35-20 at halftime and pushed its lead to as many as 19 on Thursday. Team Canada shot 30 of 62 from the field and 42 per cent from three-point range while holding Brazil to 37 per cent shooting in the win.
“We still have room for improvement, but we have a little bit more of a balanced attack and balanced scoring,” said Patrick Anderson, who contributed nine points, five rebounds, and three assists in the victory. “Seeing Jonathan Vermette and Vincent Dallaire finishing inside, that’s huge for us. Those are huge, pressure-relieving buckets. That bodes well going forward – getting a little bit more from everybody.”
The Dutch are a familiar opponent for the Senior Men’s National Team – the two countries met three times during the Ottawa Invitational in May, with the Netherlands winning a pair of games.
“We know them, they know us – we’re very different teams,” Anderson said. “They have a lot of skill and height. It will be a battle for inches to try to keep them out of the paint and away from the paint and find a way to attack them.”
Added Higgins: “We’ve played against them seemingly more than anyone over the last four or five years, so we know them very well, but at the same time, they know us very well, so it’ll be a dogfight.”
Complete stats from Thursday’s game against Brazil can be found here.
The Senior Women’s National Team returns to action on Friday when they face China to conclude Group B play. Tip-off is at 2 a.m. ET.