Canada could not overcome a slow start as the Brazilians shot 12/16 in the first quarter and went on a 13-0 run early in the first half that Canada could not overcome. The Brazilians and took a 19 point lead at halftime before going on to win their 6th ever Pan Am Men’s Basketball Gold Medal with an 86-71 win over Canada.
The Brazilians were up as much as 25 in the third quarter, but Canada led by Anthony Bennett and Jamal Murray were able to cut that lead to 6 points in the fourth before the Brazilians again pulled away late. The Canadians were also hurt by Andrew Nicholson fouling out of the game early in the third quarter.
Brazil defeats Canada for Pan Am Basketball Gold
Brazil featured even scoring with three players tying for the team lead with Augusto Lima, Larry Taylor, and Rafael Hettscheimeir each putting up 13 points. They got contributions from throughout the lineup though with 11 players scoring at least 4 points. Their suffocating defence and ball movement was just too much for Canada to handle on this night.
The silver medal, is Canada’s first ever Men’s basketball medal in the Pan Am Games and follows up on the Women’s gold medal earlier in the games.
Next up for Team Canada general manager Steve Nash and coach Jay Triano will be August’s FIBA Americas tournament where they will try to qualify for the 2016 Rio Olympics. This Pan Am team was very young and was used as a development tournament for that squad. As many as seven NBA players could join the team for the FIBA Americas with Andrew Wiggins, Cory Joseph, and Kelly Olynyk expected to lead the way. Canada is also hoping that Tristan Thompson will join the squad.
The United States defeated the Dominican Republic to win the Bronze medal earlier in the day.
Main Photo Credit: Getty Images
