BELÉM, BRAZIL (June 7, 2019) – Canada defeated Mexico 95-78 on Friday afternoon to advance to the semifinals at the FIBA U16 Americas Championship 2019. This win also qualifies the team for the FIBA U17 World Cup 2020.

Click here for the box score.

Enoch Boakye was the team's top performer recording a double-double with 19 points and 17 rebounds. Ryan Nembhard also contributed to the win with 20 points and seven assists of his own while Caleb Houstan had 21 points. Yahir Bonilla had a team high 27 points for Mexico in the loss.

Scoring first, Mexico opened the game but Canada soon responded. Both teams scored back to back until the 5:35 mark when Canada went off on a 6-0 run. By the end of the first quarter, Canada led Mexico 26-12.

In the second quarter, Mexico began to pick up pace outscoring Canada 24-18. Though Mexico was shooting more efficiently, Canada managed to increase the point differential in the last minutes and entered the half with a 44-39 lead.

Canada found their stride again in the third quarter outscoring Mexico 25-14. In this quarter Nembhard dropped 10 points causing Canada to enter the fourth quarter with the 69-53 lead.

With a strong fourth quarter performance, Canada remains undefeated at the FIBA U16 Americas Championship 2019 defeating Mexico 95-78.

This is Canada’s sixth appearance since the FIBA U16 Americas Championship began in 2009, with the country medalling in each of their previous five tournaments.

Click here for the roster.

QUOTES

"We’re very proud of these guys for qualifying for the World Championships in Bulgaria next year. It certainly was an important step for us in this journey, but we have a couple of other steps in front of this here. We know we have challenges playing the winner of the Dominican Republic and Brazil game tomorrow. But hopefully, the guys will have their best basketball in front of them and will continue to improve. We’re excited for the challenge tomorrow to try and get a chance in the finals." - Head Coach Kirby Schepp

UP NEXT

Canada will compete with the either Brazil or the Dominican Republic in the semifinals on Saturday, June 8 for a spot in the finals on Sunday. Fans can catch the game streaming live on FIBA YouTube or the Canada Basketball Facebook page.

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