HAMBURG, Germany – The Canadian men’s wheelchair basketball team placed second in pool A with two wins and one loss after an 83-71 defeat to Iran on Monday at the 2018 World Wheelchair Basketball Championships.
The smaller Canadian side had trouble containing Iran’s height, with the latter dominating in the paint and repeatedly converting on turnovers by Canada. Iran placed first in the pool at 3-0.
After building up a 22-point lead it looked as though Iran would cruise to victory early. However, Canada was resilient and clawed its way back into the game, coming within four points of tying it up late before Iran closed it out.
“We didn’t hang our heads when we got down,” said David Eng (Montreal, Que.). “We were able to fight back. It was just a little too much of a big gap, but it shows the composure of our team, and the heart that we’ve got to be able to focus and battle to the end.”
Pat Anderson of Fergus, Ont., recorded game-highs in points (34) and rebounds (13) to secure his third double-double of the tournament.
At the 2016 Paralympic Games, Canada (without Anderson) was 11th and Iran 10th.
Anderson leads all players at the end of round-robin play in points per game (28) and average rebounds (12.6). Nik Goncin of Regina is also in the top 10 for average points (16.3 points per game).
Canada also leads the tournament with the most points for (226 total points and an average of 75.3 points per game) ahead of Iran (225) and the United States (223).
The Canadian men will next face Poland (third in pool B) in a crossover match on Tuesday at 6:15 a.m. (ET) with the winner advancing to the quarterfinals. Meanwhile, the Canadian women (2-1) return to round-robin action against the Netherlands (2-0) at 12:30 p.m. ET on Tuesday.
Canada’s games will be livestreamed at Facebook.com/CDNParalympics, Facebook.com/wheelchairbasketball, cbcsports.ca and via the CBC Sports app
Team Canada information: http://www.wheelchairbasketball.ca/event/2018-world-wheelchair-basketball-championships/
Official website: https://iwbf.org/event/2018-world-championships/
