MANAGUA (Nicaragua) – Canada kept its dream of competing for a gold medal alive at the 2025 FIBA AmeriCup as it defeated Colombia 94-56 at the Alexis Arguello Sports Complex in Managua, Nicaragua, on Thursday. Canada has had multiple standouts throughout the competition, with Leonard Miller and Kyshawn George both being the foundation of Canada's success so far, with each player scoring in double-digit figures by halftime. Not only did Canada almost hit the century mark in scoring with 94 points, but the team also grabbed over 50 rebounds in the win, tallying 53 total. The team also saw every single player on the roster score at least one basket.
Turning point
As they have before in this year's edition of the AmeriCup, Canada led from wire to wire and finished with its biggest lead of the game with 38 points. The players’ efforts offensively came off the back of 51 percent shooting as a team while scoring 22 second-chance points compared to Colombia's five. Colombia did cut into Canada's lead in the third quarter as Hansel Atencia dropped 11 points in the quarter, including 3 three-pointers. But Canada's rotation closed the comeback as Kyle Wiltjer and Charles Bediako kept Canada leading by over 30 points to head into the final frame.
TCL player of the game
George led Canada in scoring with 18 points in just 19:05 of playing time, hitting four triples and shooting 75 percent in that time. He also grabbed 6 rebounds and dished out 5 assists within the frame. Miller added 14 points for Canada, going 100 percent from the foul line and being just one shy of a double-double.
Atencia was Colombia's lone double-digit scorer, putting up a 19-point performance that included 4 three-pointers as he shot 50 percent from the field in the game. Michaell Jackson had a solid defensive game for Colombia as he grabbed four steals against Canada.
Stats don’t lie
Canada's size, speed, and depth all made a difference against Colombia as the team dominated almost every statistical category, including putting up 51 points off the bench compared to just 14 from Colombia as well as scoring 13 points on the fast break while Colombia put up just five. Colombia did however, win the turnover battle, forcing Canada into 15 turnovers that would convert to 18 points, but Canada made up for those errors by dominating the game down low and getting up 44 points in the paint while keeping Colombia to 20.
Bottom line
Canada's depth has been able to push them through tough games all competition, and the players’ ability to play strong until the final buzzer was apparent once again as they finished with not only the win, but six players scoring eight or more points. The ability to move the ball and find shooters from any space on the floor made the difference, dishing out 25 assists. The Canadians’ defense was also solid as they held Colombia to just 31 percent shooting. With Thursday's results, the four semifinalists are the same than in the past edition of the AmeriCup. In Recife's 2022 semi-finals, Brazil defeated Canada and Argentina defeated USA.
They said
“We played the right way, we passed the ball, 25 assists on 33 field goals made is a really good mark for us... Shoutout to my players for doing a great job and being professional today," said Canada head coach Nate Mitchell on the win. "A big game plan for us was just executing and focusing on the details. I think we did that, and that's how you continue to get better over a tournament, no matter the score of the game," said Trae Bell-Haynes. "Just focusing on what you can improve as a team, I think we did that, and we're looking forward to the next one."
FIBA