(OTTAWA, ONT.) – Ibrahim Odza had a game-high 26 points, leading Canada to a 96-37 victory over Israel on Sunday at the IWBF Men’s Under-23 World Championship in São Paulo, Brazil.
Canada finished shooting 43 of 71 from the field and scored 43 points off turnovers in the win. Defensively, Canada held Israel to 34 per cent shooting on Sunday.
“We came out and executed a great strategy,” said Team Canada’s Under-23 Head Coach Darrell Nordell. “We played the game we wanted to play. We knew we could press them and get turnovers, and the guys held their composure.”
Odza added nine assists and five steals in the win, while captain Nasif Chowdhury contributed a triple-double – 18 points, 13 assists and 10 rebounds.
“I played Nasif pretty much the whole game,” Nordell added. “He’s the captain of the team. He’s showing the leadership responsibilities that we put on his shoulders, and he’s carrying it well.”
Simon Mazi-Keep entered the game off the bench in the third and, scored 10 points and picked up a rebound as Team Canada stretched its lead to 47, 76-29 heading into the fourth quarter.
“I think what we’re showing is we do have some good shooting now coming up in Canada,” said Nordell. “We can shoot from outside. We have some threats coming in.”
Broden Nagle got a layup to drop with 24 seconds remaining in the second quarter, giving Canada its largest lead of the half, 57-22.
Team Canada shot 65 per cent from the field and limited Israel to 11 of 22 at the break.
Odza had 24 through two periods, while Chowdhury added 11.
Nagle had four points off the bench in the second quarter, and Keaton MacEachern and Jeff Ward added two points each in the period.
Team Canada led 31-6 after one quarter.
Canada went on a 14-0 run to open a 23-point lead, 27-4 with 1:15 to play in the opening period.
“Everyone got minutes today. That’s kind of what we wanted to do: rest some of the other guys,” Nordell explained. “We know Australia is going to be a big push for us on Monday.”
Canada faces Australia on Monday at 10 a.m. EDT/7 a.m. PDT. The game can be live streamed on the IWBF YouTube channel.
The IWBF Men’s Under-23 World Championship brings together the top 12 nations. Canada is competing in Group A alongside Australia, Israel, Germany, Türkiye and Brazil.
Traditionally held every four years, the tournament showcases the best young talent in the sport. Athletes must be 22 years of age or younger to be eligible to compete. This year marks the eighth edition of the event. Canada captured back-to-back gold medals in 1997 and 2001.
Complete stats from Sunday’s game can be found here. The tournament schedule and results can be found here.
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Wheelchair Basketball Canada (WBC) is the national sports governing body responsible for the organization of the sport in Canada. It is a non-profit, charitable organization committed to excellence in developing, supporting, and promoting wheelchair basketball programs and services from grassroots to high performance for all Canadians. Wheelchair basketball is a fast-paced, hard-hitting, competitive sport in which Canada is held in high esteem worldwide for winning six gold, one silver, and one bronze medal over the last nine Paralympic Games. WBC will host the 2026 IWBF Wheelchair Basketball World Championships from September 9-19, 2026.
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