EDMONTON, Alberta (August 6, 2022) -- In Canada Basketball 15U Men’s National Championship action, Ontario claimed the gold medal thanks to a 90-68 victory over British Columbia. Caleb Roberts led Ontario with an 18-point performance while Quinten Ethier added 15 points as Ontario had five players reach double figures. British Columbia was led by Dionycius Bakare’s 20 points while Justin Hinrichson had a 17-point, 12-rebound double-double while also adding four steals and six blocks in the loss.

Ontario trailed 17-14 with 3:27 remaining in the opening quarter, but closed the quarter on a 14-2 run to lead by nine after the first 10 minutes of action. British Columbia got back on track in the second quarter, outscoring Ontario 22-17 to go into the half trailing by just four, 45-41.

After a layup from Bakare trimmed the deficit to just three points with 8:23 remaining in the third quarter, Ontario responded with a 9-2 run to go back ahead by double digits, 57-47, on a layup from Roberts with 6:37 remaining in the third. After matching each attempt from British Columbia to trim the lead, Ontario held a 14-point advantage after three.

The final quarter was more of the same as Ethier opened scoring with a three-pointer for Ontario and then Alexander Mounsey scored on an offensive putback to stretch the lead to 19 points as Ontario went on to pick up the victory.

While Ontario took gold, the 15U Alberta squad defeated Nova Scotia 94-67 to capture the bronze. Idiakose Omofoma led a dominant Alberta team with a 16-point, 13-rebound double-double while Jayden Rushema and Mrigendra Dhaliwal added 15 points apiece as Alberta jumped out to a nine-point lead after the first quarter and didn’t look back. After building the lead to  17 points, 44-27, at the half, Alberta went into the fourth leading by 19 and easily went on to pick up the victory from there.

Alberta shot 54 percent from the floor and 48 percent from beyond the arc as they connected on 10-of-21 three-pointers. Nova Scotia struggled to score, shooting 29 percent from the floor and 14 percent from beyond the arc. Alberta also held a 64-30 edge in rebounds, which helped offset their 34 turnovers in the game.