NASSAU (Bahamas) – Canada's continual rise as a basketball nation was apparent on Friday evening as the team secured its first win of the FIBA World Cup Qualifiers in a 111-75 win over the Bahamas at Sir Kendal Isaacs Gym.
Bahamas and Canada faced each other for the fifth time in World Cup Qualifiers history, with the latter winning all the previous four, by an average margin of 37 points.
Turning point
Canada led from wire to wire against Bahamas, but the team kicked it up a notch in the second half as they increased their lead thanks to performances from Charles Bediako, Trae Bell-Haynes and a few deep triples from Aaron Best.
With six different players finishing in double-digit scoring, Canada was able to fire on all cylinders offensively as players shot 57 percent from the floor, including 50 percent from deep and 63.16 percent from 2-point field goal range.
Player of the game
Kyle Wiltjer is the only player in the Americas to have played more than six games in the World Cup Qualifiers and to have an average of 20+ points per game, and he did just that as he tallied 22 points and six rebounds against Bahamas.
15 of Wiltjer's points came in the first quarter alone to help set up a 10-point lead early for Canada, and he was able to be the highest scorer on either team in just 20 minutes played.
Stats don’t lie
While Canada led in many categories like shooting, rebounding, assists and steals, the Canadians were able to see the biggest margin of success in the turnover battle, both in turnovers committed as well as points scored off forcing the Bahamas to make one.
With Bahamas committing 17 turnovers, Canada was able to turn that into 32 points, nearly a basket after every turnover, while only committing 10 themselves which resulted in 14 points for Bahamas.
Bottom line
Canada upset top competition in the last FIBA World Cup to go home with hardware and it's apparent they are ready to do so again as Wiltjer, Bell-Haynes, Bediako, Best, Jahvon Henry-Blair and Marcus Carr all held down the fort offensively.
Kyle Alexander put up a strong two-way performance, and every player on the floor for Canada scored at least one point in the victory, with Canada's bench reeling in 42 of the points, proving the team’s depth and making them a team to watch as they will accept nothing less than another World Cup bid.
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FIBA