CANADA LEADS FROM OPENING TIP & WINS CONVINCINGLY IN FIRST GAME AT FIBA AMERICAS

(Toronto, Ont.) – The Junior Men’s National Team opened the U18 FIBA Americas Championship tournament with a convincing 101-59 win over Brazil.

Dillon Brooks (Mississauga, Ont.) led the Canadians with an incredible spark off the bench. His energy and efficiency saw him finish with 29 points, five assists, three rebounds, three steals, and one block on 12-16 (75%) shooting in just 24:50 of floor time. Montaque Gill-Caesar acted as the perfect complement to Brooks’ great showing as he himself poured in 20 points and five rebounds on 6-13 shooting (6-6 FT’s) in just 20:53 of floor time.

Canada led from the opening tip and kept their foot on the gas pedal as they steadily built up what proved to be an insurmountable lead. Ultimately, the game’s outcome was determined by Canada’s ball pressure, which led to 20 turnovers, resulting in 23 points. Canada was able to buttress that by taking advantage of their superior inside presence, outscoring Brazil 52 to 18 in the paint.

Head coach Roy Rana attributed the team’s strong showing to their all-out commitment on the defensive end and ability to play within the game plan:

“We talked a lot from day one about the way we want to play. We want to play the right way - share the ball and make good decisions. I thought it was a great start. Guys played unselfishly, played together and our commitment on the defensive end was also very impressive.”

Never one to ever dwell on past successes, Rana is looking forward to tomorrows challenge:

“Great start for us, but no fool’s gold as tomorrow we’ll be at war against the Dominican Republic and we can’t take them lightly.”

Canada will look to string together back-to-back wins tomorrow, when they take on theDominican Republic. Game time is 3:00 p.m. EST and the game will be available on youtube.com/FIBA.

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