SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (February 24, 2020) —
The Canadian Senior Men’s National Team dropped an 88-84 decision in
overtime against the Dominican Republic on the road in the group phase
of the FIBA AmeriCup 2021 Qualifiers.
Playing in front of a passionate crowd at the Palacio de los Deportes in
Santo Domingo, the Canadians thought they had the game won on a
three-pointer from Conor Morgan at the buzzer in regulation. After much
of the Canadian team ran off the court in celebration,
officials reviewed the shot and ruled that it was a two and not a
three-pointer, thus tying the game at 75 points and forcing overtime.
In the extra session, the teams traded buckets and ties before a three
from Luis Montero gave the Dominican Republic a four-point advantage
with 37 seconds remaining. Though Phil Scrubb hit a pair of free throws
to trim the deficit to two, Canada couldn’t make
up the distance and a three-point play opportunity for Eloy Vargas
sealed the victory for Dominican Republic.
“Both teams played with a lot of heart,” Team Canada head coach Gordie
Herbert said. “Both teams represented their countries very well. It was a
very intense game.”
Canada was led by a game-high 26-point effort from Scrubb who shot 6-for-13 from the floor, including 4-for-9 from beyond the arc and 10-for-13 from the free throw line. He also added six assists. Aaron Best added 15 points for Canada while Kaza Kajami-Keane added 15 points and a team-high seven assists in the loss. Vargas had 16 points to lead Dominican Republic while Rigoberto Mendoza added 12 points.
This
was the second game the two teams have played against each other in
four days with Canada earning an 89-72 victory in Oshawa, Ontario on
Friday.
Despite the loss, the players praised the supportive Dominican Republic
crowd for helping to create an electric playing environment.
“We practiced for the past week and a half trying to prepare ourselves
for a really good Dominican team,” Kajami-Keane said. “We knew it was
going to be pretty hostile today, so I just tried to maintain my focus
and try to help my team win the game.”
After trailing by six after the opening quarter and at halftime, Canada
finally took its first lead of the game in the final minute of the third
quarter after a pair of free throws from Kyle Landry. The quarter was
an eventful one for Canada as Andrew Nicholson
was called for an offensive foul and then a technical foul and fouled
out of the game midway through the third. With Canada trailing by 10,
Scrubb went on his own 9-0 run to trim the deficit to a point before
free throws from Landry and Trae Bell-Haynes gave
Canada a two-point lead heading into the fourth.
“I think it was a very hard fought game by both teams,” Gordie Herbert
said. “Very intense. Both teams had great effort, the crowd was very
good. We’re very proud of our players. We lost Nicholson with about 15
minutes to go in the game and we were down 10
at the time and the rest of the players really stood up and played
outstanding.”
Canada shot 42 percent from the floor in the game, compared to the
Dominican Republic shooting 49 percent. While Canada took care of the
ball in Friday’s victory, they had 16 turnovers in Monday’s loss and
Dominican Republic took advantage, outscoring Canada
17-1 in points off turnovers.
The FIBA AmeriCup 2021 Qualifiers will pick up in November where Canada
will play its next pair of games in the group phase. Up next for Team
Canada is the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in June.
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