Despite being ranked 26th in the world, they beat Turkey 77-69 on Tuesday.
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The surprise packages. global ball still throws up these kind of nights where a team comes in with some mystery attached and shows strongly – Senegal, ranked 31st in the world and under a new coach barely a month into the job, were just such an opponent. Antetokounmpo again started and scored 21 points in 21:55 of playing time. Anthony Bennett had seven points, seven rebounds and a blocked shot. This permanently gave Canada the momentum, and Turkey just couldn’t fully recover.
Ndour also recorded 10 rebounds and six blocks and made 4-of-8 from the three-point area. “We have a tremendous opportunity to achieve an Olympic berth and our players and staff will be doing everything possible to achieve our goal of qualifying for Rio”.
Canada’s guard tandem of Cory Joseph and Tyler Ennis were able to get into the paint but weren’t very productive when there.
Canada looked good in their last game against Turkey.
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The 31st pick of the 2015 draft, Cedi Osman, whose rights belong to the Minnesota Timberwolves, showed why they were interested in him. Blatche was 6-of-12 from the 2-point line and 4-of-7 from the 3-point line. When things got grimmest midway through the fourth quarter and both offences starved, Canada’s output over their last 12 possessions amounted to three driving layups and three free throws from the backcourt. They did combine for 25 points, five assists and just one turnover, which was good, but it would have been nice to have Nik Stauskas waiting on the catch on a few of those possessions. We were able to run and play our pace. It is the easiest skill to practice and it is so crucial to the game. He hit four of his eight three-point attempts, including one that drew his team within two points of Canada with less than a minute left. “That’s why the game was so close”. Canada can secure a semifinal spot as group victor by beating Senegal on Wednesday. Nowadays, the 5-time CIS National Champions are contributing members of Team Canada, who are three wins away from qualifying for the 2016 Olympics in Brazil.
