ST. CATHARINES, ON (JUNE 12, 2018) - Team Canada's U18 team defeated Chile 97-60 in the final game of group-play and will advance to the quarter-final round of the FIBA U18 Americas Championship tournament.

With the win, Canada improves to a perfect 3-0 record in the tournament as they look ahead to their quarter-final matchup against Panama on Thursday evening.

Andrew Nembhard led the way for Canada in the victory, scoring a game-high 19 points to go along with seven assists. Jaden Bediako also chipped in, posting a 12-point, 12-rebound double-double. Emanuel Miller and Jahcobi Neath each put up double-figure numbers, sharing the scoring load in the win.

Click here for the full box score.

Chile came out strong to open the first quarter, forcing Canada into a back and forth affair. Andrew Nembhard scored an early nine points to maintain a slim advantage for Canada, but relentless rebounding from the Chileans would keep Canada from pulling away. Despite the strong play from Nembhard, Canada entered the second frame with a slim 28-20 lead.

Addison Patterson proved yet again to be a second-quarter spark for the Canadian's offence, but Chile's shooting refused to slow down in the second frame as they continued to go toe-to-toe with the red and white. Canada's full-court press would carry them for the rest of the half, forcing turnovers and feeding their offence in return, leading to a 50-33 advantage at halftime.

Canada came out on fire to start the second half, opening the game open with a string of strong defensive possessions. Joel Brown was the key in orchestrating the offence throughout the frame, as Canada cruised into the fourth quarter with a 74-44 lead.

The fourth quarter was much of the same for Team Canada, as the team's stifling defence proved too much for Chile. Canada continued to produce until the final buzzer, walking away with the 97-60 victory.

Click here for full team roster.

QUOTES

"I've been playing with and against Andrew [Nembhard] since grade seven, so to get the opportunity to play with him again is awesome. We've both known each other for such a long time so we know how to help each other out. There's some things we do similarly and somethings we do differently, but it all just comes together and works. I love playing with him." - Joel Brown

"It means everything to have everyone produce, especially big men like Jaden [Bediako]. The U.S. has some pretty big guys on their team, so if we can't rebound, we'd stand no chance against them. Jaden playing well is so huge for us and I'm sure he'll keep that momentum going." - Jahcobi Neath

"I'm really happy with the pace we're starting to play at and we're really hard to playt against when we move at that place. We're not fun to play forty minutes against. I'd like us to be more difficult to play against in the first eight minutes of our games." - Head Coach Dave Smart

UP NEXT

Canada's pursuit of a FIBA U18 Americas Championship will continue competing in the quarter-finals as they look forward to taking on Panama on Thursday at 8:15 PM.

For the latest updates regarding Canada Basketball and the Americas Championship, follow Canada Basketball on Twitter.

For more information, contact:
Matt Walker, mwalker@basketball.ca.

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