HEADLINE‍

Canada battled back in the fourth quarter at the FIBA U16 Men’s Americas Championship 2023 and pulled out a 75-65 win on Tuesday afternoon in Yucatán, Mexico.

HOW IT HAPPENED

- After flashing his three-point prowess on Monday vs. Dominican Republic, Quinten Ethier was on fire to begin the game on Tuesday. The St. Catharines, Ont. product had 11 points on 3-4 shooting from beyond-the-arc in the opening 7:36 of the contest, helping Canada get out to an early 22-16 lead after one quarter.

- Yet Uruguay was able to hang around after back-and-forth scoring in both the second and third quarters. Uruguay took a 62-55 lead with 5:59 to go in the fourth, setting the stage for Canadian guard Kamai Samuels to step up. The Montreal product banked in a three, before forcing a steal and going the other way for the hoop and the harm. Samuels then added another lay-up on the ensuing possession — a 7-0 run of his own to erase Uruguay's lead and tie the game at 62 apiece.

- Canada was able to carry that momentum into the remaining minutes of the fourth. Godson Okokoh's three-pointer with 2:28 remaining gave Canada a 67-64 lead, kickstarting an 11-1 run to close the contest, allowing them to escape with their second win of the tournament.

- Canada's defence was suffocating in the closing quarter, limiting Uruguay to just three points in the final 5:59 of the game.

- After struggling with turnovers in Monday's win over Dominican Republic, Canada turned the ball over just 10 times against Uruguay — 12 turnovers fewer than the 22 in the tournament opener.

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‍CANADA HIGHLIGHTS

- Samuels and Ethier led Canada with 17 points apiece. Samuels added 10 rebounds, five assists and three steals, while Ethier chipped in eight rebounds and two steals of his own.

- Paul Osaruyi recorded double-digit points for the second-straight game, joining Samuels and Ethier as the lone three players to eclipse the 10-point mark. After scoring 14 points on Monday, Osaruyi registered 10 points in the win over Uruguay.

- Okokoh was impactful in his 25:18, scoring nine points on 3-6 shooting, to go along with five rebounds. The 14-year-old forward from Ottawa is averaging 8.5 points per-game in the tournament — fourth most among Canadian scorers.

<center><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Kamai Samuels came to play 😤<br><br>📹: <a href="https://twitter.com/FIBA?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@FIBA</a><a href="https://t.co/nmyU3YhXIA">https://t.co/nmyU3YhXIA</a><a href="https://t.co/tmKbzTtc0G">pic.twitter.com/tmKbzTtc0G</a></p>&mdash; Canada Basketball (@CanBball) <a href="https://twitter.com/CanBball/status/1666252970676068354?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 7, 2023</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

‍QUOTABLE

“It was great. To be able to take initiative and lead the team down the stretch was definitely something that needed to be done and I felt like I could do it so it was an all-around great moment.” - Samuels on how it felt to step up in the fourth quarter.

“I’ve been telling the team that ‘This is a game of runs.’ We can’t get too low when we’re down or too high when we’re up. Defend, rebound and execute is what we have been preaching and if the team continues to respond to what we have been asking them to do while being better in our physicality, we will put ourselves in a good position.” - Canada head coach Chris Cheng on taking positives from a pair of close battles early in the tournament.‍

“Offensively, we found a great rhythm and executed our plays, and on the defensive end we were disciplined and made them force up tough shots which led to us flowing the rest of the way.” - Samuels on what the difference was during the final minutes of the fourth.

“Our defence is what keeps us in the game and also brings us back when we are down. This effort and concentration are what we need to bring forward into tomorrow against a very good Brazil team.” - Cheng on what the team can carry over into tomorrow's game against Brazil.

‍HISTORY FILE

- Canada moved to 3-0 all-time against Uruguay in FIBA U16 Men’s Americas Championship history. This was the third-ever meeting between the countries at the tournament with the last coming in 2019 — the last year Uruguay competed in the tournament after failing to qualify in 2021.

- Kamai Samuels became the first Canadian player in FIBA U16 Men’s Americas Championship history to record 10+ points, 10+ rebounds and 5+ assists in a single game.

- For the sixth time in tournament history, Canada has begun the FIBA U16 Men’s Americas Championship with a perfect 2-0 record.

NEXT UP

Top spot in Group B will be on the line on Wednesday when Canada closes the group stage in a meeting with Brazil. Each team sits undefeated with matching 2-0 records after Brazil escaped with a narrow 68-66 victory over Dominican Republic on Tuesday. Fans in Canada catch all the action streaming live on FIBA YouTube. Tip-off is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. ET / 11:30 a.m. PT.

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