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Canada U17 Men’s National Team Opens Group Play at the FIBA U17 Men’s Basketball World Cup with a 77-52 Win Over Germany
ISTANBUL, Turkey (June 29, 2024) - Canada’s U17 Men’s National Team delivered a 77-52 victory earlier today, starting group play at the FIBA U17 Men’s Basketball World Cup with a 1-0 record.
The game started with back-and-forth buckets between Canada and Germany, with Germany jumping to a 21-11 lead over Canada.
“It took us a while to reveal our defensive identity the first few minutes,” said head coach Chris Cheng. “It wasn’t until the second unit came in to apply the defensive pressure we needed that our defensive pressure generated points for us, and this carried forward throughout.”
Sure enough, a slam dunk from Mahliq Guiseppi-Kitson would start a run to the end of the first quarter for Canada, bringing it to just a two-point game at the end of the first.
A tough midrange jumper from Kole Grandison, who finished with eight points, gave Canada the lead back. From there, threes and buckets from Quinten Ethier, Patrick Anamali, Jordan Charles, and Amari Upshaw let Canada pull away from Germany.
Canada has several players returning from last summer’s silver medal-winning team at the U16 Americas and was able to participate in some exhibition games ahead of this tournament.
“I feel like the exhibition games really helped us,” said Jordan Charles. “It really builds a lot of team chemistry, and with the players from last year, we can keep building from there.”
Right out of the halftime break, Charles ran ahead in transition and whipped the ball crosscourt to Quinten Ethier, who knocked down the three to put Canada up 45-32. Charles finished with 12 points and five assists.
Ethier finished with a team-high 22 points and eight rebounds, providing Canada with six of its ten three-pointers.
Germany didn’t hit their first three until seven minutes left in the game, showing Canada’s effort on the defensive end of the floor.
Other top performers for Canada included Miles Sadler, who finished with nine points and five assists, and Patrick Anamali, who finished with eight points and created some important points down the stretch.
Canada will face Egypt next on June 30 at 5:30 a.m. ET / 2:30 a.m. PT. Fans can catch the game on FIBA's YouTube channel.
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