Poland beats Canada in round of 16 in men’s tournament at wheelchair basketball worlds

OTTAWA – Mateusz Filipski was a one- man wrecking crewon Monday as he posted a triple double to lead Poland to a 79-64 victory over Canada in the round of 16 at the wheelchair basketball world championships.

With the loss, Canada is relegated to the 9-15 bracket while Poland advances to the quarterfinals at worlds for the first time since placing sixth in 2018.

Filipski scored 26 points and added 11 rebounds and 11 assists as Poland pulled away in the third quarter outscoring Canada 25-14. Poland shot 53 percent from the floor compared to 36 percent for Canada.

“That was a tough one today,” said Canadian forward Collin Higgins who notched 17 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists. “Poland are experienced, they got some nice height and got a couple of really good shooters.”

Nik Goncin was Canada’s top scorer with 22 points and Garrett Ostepchuk added nine. Canada led 17-11 after a quarter and Poland ended the second quarter on a 8-0 run to tie it 31-31 at the half.

“We played pretty well in the first half,” said Higgins. “We were doing some shots, creating opportunities. But there’s a few shots I would have liked to have back.”

Goncin says a strong finish to the tournament, especially with a home worlds, is important for Canada’s build-up to LA28.

“We have to let this game go emotionally because the next part of the tournament is very important,” said Goncin, a three-time Paralympian. “We have seen some upsets and in the relegation bracket there could be at least four teams that were top-eight contenders.”

In other round of 16 games, Spain trounced Morocco 90-44, Germany beat Colombia 77-63 and Australia defeated Brazil 69-44. Later Monday, it’s Italy-Argentina, USA-Turkey and Great Britain-Netherlands.  As the top seed in the prelims Japan got a bye to the quarters.

The Canadian women are back in action Tuesday as they face Great Britain for top spot in Group A. Both countries are 4-0 so far in the prelims.

The playoff format is different for the women with the top four from Groups A and B after prelims advancing to the quarterfinals.