Image courtesy of FIBA

The Junior Men’s National Team (JMNT) fell to Lithuania by a score of 82-76 at the FIBA U19 World Championship for Men. With the victory, Lithuania improved to 4-0 in the tournament, while Canada moved to 1-3 with the tight loss.

Canada came out well in the first quarter. After being down 8-4, the JMNT went on a 20-0 run between the first and second quarters to grab hold of the game in the early-going. The Lithuanian side responded by outscoring Canada 21-18 in the second frame as the teams went to halftime with Team Canada holding a 39-29 advantage.

In the third quarter, a resilient and tenacious Team Lithuania fought back with timely scoring and strong defence. A 12-2 run to open the second half knotted the game at 41. Lithuania managed a mark of 20-8 in the quarter and Canada went into the final period down by two. The final 10 minutes of the game saw furious action from both ends. Lithuania led by as many as 11 points, but Canada showed heart in battling back to match the opposition’s pace. The Canadians closed within three points in the game’s final minute, but the team ran out of time in its comeback bid.

The JMNT was led once again by Brampton, Ont. native Tyler Ennis who scored a game-high 28 points to go with seven rebounds, two assists and three steals. Ennis has been Canada’s highest scorer in the tournament so far, averaging 24.75 points in four contests. Trey Lyles finished with his third straight double-double after scoring 18 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. The game’s set of statistics can be viewed here.

Team Canada will continue the Eighth Final Round with a match-up against Iran on Tuesday at 9:30 a.m. (ET). Iran heads into the contest with a 1-3 record following the team’s 68-59 loss to Spain on Canada Day.

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