COURTSIDE 1891
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SASKATOON (Canada) – Canada had to dig deep Sunday afternoon to get past Mexico, 83-73, in a wildly entertaining affair at SaskTel Centre.
The North Americans closed the game on a 13-2 run to stay unbeaten in the 2025 FIBA AmeriCup Qualifiers.
Turning point
In a game that had as many as 8 lead changes and plenty of breathtaking sequences, a particular one in the fourth quarter stood out over the rest.
With Canada up 73-71 with 3:30 to go in regulation, Moises Andriassi grabbed a contested offensive rebound and found Jorge Camacho all by himself at the top of the arc. The big man, who had already drained a triple in the fourth quarter, missed his shot and Trae Bell-Haynes did the rest.
The speedy guard grabbed the rebound and turned on the jets, driving the length of the court for a tough layup in traffic to turn what would’ve been a 1-point deficit into a 4-point lead. The 5-point swing was a gut punch that Mexico was unable to recover from.
Player of the game
Bell-Haynes was sensational, leading Canada with 20 points, 7 assists, 5 rebounds and a pair of steals for a 25-efficiency.
Trae Bell-Haynes
Big man Mfiondu Kabengele produced a monster 15-point, 12-rebound double-double, while Thomas Kennedy added 17 points and 5 boards. Marcus Carr finished with 10 assists.
Karim Rodriguez (21 points on 5/14 from downtown) led a Mexican squad that had four players in double digits. Gael Bonilla flirted with a triple-double, finishing with 10 points, 11 assists and 8 rebounds, while Andriassi (13) and Fabian Jaimes (11) also had solid showings.
Stats don’t lie
Canada held Mexico to just 35.2 percent from the field and the only thing that kept the visiting squad in the game was their opportunism when it came to scoring off turnovers (Mexico won that category 20-11).
Nate Mitchell’s guys won the paint battle 46-26 but will have to take better care of the ball going forward after finishing with 18 turnovers. They did make up for it by shooting a torrid 73 percent on two-pointers, enough to balance out Mexico’s 11 three-pointers.
Bottom line
With the hard-fought victory, Canada improved to 4-0 in Group C and sit on the verge of clinching their spot in next year’s AmeriCup. A win by Nicaragua over Dominican Republic later on Sunday would officially punch their ticket, otherwise they’ll get their next chance next February.
Mexico dropped to 2-2 and will host Nicaragua and Canada in February looking to qualify.
They said
FIBA