ST CATHARINES (June 16 2018) -- Canada fell to the United States 113-74 on Saturday night in the gold medal game of the FIBA U18 Americas Championship.  To wrap up the tournament, an undefeated USA went up against an undefeated Canada team to see who would be taking home the trophy in this year's U18 Americas Championship.

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Canada and USA traded run for run in the first quarter.  A 5-point run for Canada to give them a 2-point lead early, turned into a 9-point run durign the middle of the first and Canada found themselves trying to fight back by limiting turnovers.  Going into the second quarter Canada trailed USA 29-20.  Leading Canada on the board after one quarter was Tyrese Samuel who contributed seven of Canada's 20 points.

Team USA punished Team Canada in transition during the second quarter and expanded their lead 61-33.  Going into the second half Canada looked to shrink their turnovers and use their shooting to get them in the lead.

Canada got their offence going early in the third quarter, slowing the pace down and executing more efficiently on all parts of the floor but they were unable to sustain teh momentum and they USA further expanded their lead.  Going into the fourth quarter USA led Canada 84-52.

Going into the fourth quarter of play, two Team Canada players were in double digits, AJ Lawson with 11 points and Andrew Nembhard with 10 points.  USA and Canada continued to press gaps in the defence to put points on the board for their sides, but USA were able to hold onto their lead they had grown throughout the first three quarters and take the victory over Canada.

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QUOTES

"We just needed to come out stronger from the beginning, compete more and be more confident in ourselves and I feel next year we can come out more confident in ourselves and it will be a different game" - Andrew Nembhard

"Some of these kids it was their first experience.  Sometimes first experiences don't always go well and this one didn't but I think we came out of this one better and we came out of this with something, we learned a little bit about our team" - Coach Dave Smart

UP NEXT

Canada earns silver at the U18 Americas Championship but with their victory in the Quarter-Finals against Panama, they have qualified for the 2019 U19 World Cup.

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