Canada falls short of FIBA AmeriCup gold after semifinal loss to Argentina

Canada’s bid for FIBA men’s AmeriCup gold is officially over.

Argentina made sure of it, knocking off the Canadians via a wire-to-wire 83-73 victory in the semifinals on Saturday night in Nicaragua.

Marcus Carr led Canada’s effort, finishing with 16 points on 7-of-13 shooting and four assists in 22 minutes off the bench. Mfiondu Kabengele and Trae Bell-Haynes rounded out the double-digit scorers for the senior men’s squad, putting up 14 and 15 points each.

Meanwhile, Canada’s young NBAers Leonard Miller (Minnesota Timberwolves) and Kyshawn George (Washington Wizards) struggled as they combined to score 11 points on 2-of-12 and 1-of-6 shooting, respectively.

It didn’t take long for Argentina to assert itself as the aggressor on Saturday, surging with an early 11-0 run thanks to an overwhelming defensive showing. Canada was limited to just 2-of-11 shooting in the opening frame after missing its first eight attempts from the field. The Canadians wouldn’t make a field goal until the 1:47 mark of the first, ultimately trailing 24-9 by the end of the quarter.

Argentina kept Canada at arm’s length from there, holding the red-and-white to just 40 per cent shooting from the field and 16.7 per cent (4-of-24) from distance for the game. All the while, Argentina’s offence hummed to the tune of 48.3/42.9/61.9 per cent shooting splits as it went up by as many as 25 points before leading 46-29 at halftime and then cruising to a 10-point victory.

Jose Vildoza’s 26 points on 7-of-9 shooting from deep, six assists and two steals led an Argentine side that now prepares to take on Brazil in a rematch of the 2022 AmeriCup gold medal game. Argentina outlasted the host Brazilians in that contest, and with a victory on Sunday, would be just the third nation in tournament history to go back-to-back and first since the United States did it in 1997-99.

Behind Vildoza was Gonzalo Corbalan with a 12-point, 11-rebound double-double and Juan Fernandez with 11 points, five rebounds and three blocks.

As for Canada, it’s yet to win the AmeriCup despite competing in the tournament since its inception in 1980.

The Canadians have been the runner-up on two occasions (1980, 1999), and should they beat the Americans on Sunday — in a rematch of 2022’s bronze medal game, which Canada lost — it’d be their fourth third-place finish (1984, 1988 and 2015).