HEADLINE‍

Canada completed group stage in style, defeating Brazil 74-56 on Wednesday at the FIBA U16 Men’s Americas Championship 2023 in Yucatán, Mexico to finish atop of Group B with a perfect 3-0 record.

HOW IT HAPPENED

- In a meeting of the two unbeaten teams in Group B, it was Canada that came out of the gates firing. Canada outscored Brazil 18-12 in the game’s opening 10 minutes — led by five points apiece from Patrick Anamali and Kamai Samuels.

- Canada built on their lead throughout the second and third quarters and held a 53-38 lead over Brazil at the 8:17 mark of the fourth. Yet Brazil refused to go down without a fight and responded with an 11-0 run in less than three minutes to bring themselves within just four points at the midway point of the fourth.

- The resilience from Brazil set the stage for Elijah Patterson. After checking back into the ball game just moments prior, the young guard connected from long-range to provide the Canadians a seven-point cushion. Two possessions later, Patterson crashed the glass and corralled an offensive rebound, before being fouled on a made put-back. His three-point play and sixth point of the quarter gave Canada a 59-49 lead with just 5:45 remaining.

- Four points was as close as Brazil would come, as Canada closed the final 5:18 of the fourth quarter on a 19-7 run, allowing them to cruise to victory and earn top spot in Group B.

‍CANADA HIGHLIGHTS

- Patterson finished with as many points (15) as minutes played (15:08), with his fourth-quarter heroics providing 13 of his 15 points. The Mississauga, Ont. product was 5-6 from the field — including 3-4 from beyond-the arc — and added five rebounds to his stat line.

- Paul Osaruyi and Quinten Ethier joined Patterson in double-digit scoring, with the pair putting up 21 and 15 points, respectively. Osaruyi also had a team-high 11 rebounds — the second game of the tournament in which he registered 10+ rebounds.

- Canada made eight three-pointers in the win — the team’s most in a single-game since the tournament began on Monday.

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‍QUOTABLE

“I knew we needed a lot of energy and defensive effort so I tried to bring as much of it as possible, and it just happened to help me feel more comfortable offensively and start hitting shots.” - Patterson on stepping up in the fourth quarter for Canada.

“Elijah stayed competitive. He stayed in the moment. He didn’t have a good three quarters but he stayed in the moment. He showed how competitive he is. That’s why he was able to perform — just by being present and not dwelling on his play in the first three quarters.” - Canada head coach Chris Cheng on taking positives from a pair of close battles early in the tournament.‍

“The energy is great right now as we just placed first in our pool, but we know the job is not finished. We need to be able to sustain our level of play if we hope to make it to that final game.” - Patterson on the vibe around the team after an unbeaten group stage.

“Recharge, refocus, and find ways to get better. The job is not done.” - Cheng on his message to the team ahead of Friday's quarter-final.‍‍

HISTORY FILE

- Canada finished 3-0 in group stage for the fifth time in FIBA U16 Men’s Americas Championship history, and first time since 2019.

- With the win, Canada moved to 3-0 all-time against Brazil in FIBA U16 Men’s Americas Championship history.

- Paul Osaruyi became the sixth Canadian player since 2015 to score double-digit points in each of his three group stage games at the FIBA U16 Men’s Americas Championship. Osaruyi joined Mikkel Tyne (2021), Shaedon Sharpe and Caleb Houstan (2019), as well as Danilo Djurick, Noah Kirkwood and Simisola Shittu (2015).

NEXT UP

- Thanks to their first-place finish in Group B, Canada will now meet Group A’s fourth-place finisher. Entering the final day of group stage action, Mexico sat at the bottom of the group with an 0-2 record ahead of Wednesday’s meeting with undefeated USA.

- A quarter-final win would punch Canada a ticket to next summer's FIBA U17 Men's Basketball World Cup 2024, which will be held in Turkey.

- Fans in Canada catch all the action streaming live on FIBA YouTube. Tip-off is scheduled for 10:00 p.m. ET / 7:00 p.m. PT.

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