Canada remains undefeated in World Cup qualifying with strong defensive effort vs Argentina

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It was Canada’s toughest test to date in their quest for a spot in the FIBA World Cup and unlike the last time in Victoria, everything was just about perfect this time.

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A back-and-forth first quarter ended with Canada pulling away from a veteran Argentinian team and never looking back on their way to a 99-87 win Thursday night.

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Canada was led by Toronto-born and Hamilton-raised Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. The star of the NBA’s Oklahoma City Thunder put on a show with a team-high 23 points and eight assists as Canada improved to 7-0 in World Cup qualifying.

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When Gilgeous-Alexander wasn’t scoring, it was Toronto native Kelly Olynyk shouldering the load. Olynyk finished with 21 points and seven rebounds.

But the real difference in this one was the suffocating defence Canada put up. Argentina handled the Canadian pressure in the early going but towards the end of the first quarter, Canada found another defensive gear and it rattled Argentina which committed a number of uncharacteristic turnovers trying to deal with it.

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Nicolas Laprovittola was the lone visitor to have any success against a Canadian squad that hounded Argentina most of the night.

Laprovittola, who plays professionally in Europe with FC Barcelona had a game-high 30 points to keep Argentina in it early.

Facundo Campazzo, who played in Denver last season, matched Gilgeous-Alexander’s eight assists but like just about any other Argentinian in the game, was hounded relentlessly by Canadian defenders.

It led to 15 Argentina turnovers. Canada also won the steal and blocks battle with six and five respectively.

The game played out before a sellout crowd at Victoria’s Save-On-Foods Memorial Arena, the same venue where Canada’s Senior Men’s program fell short in a last-chance qualifier for the Beijing Olympics with a semifinal loss to the Czech Republic just over a year ago.

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Unlike that tournament, Canada was super aggressive defensively from the opening tip setting the tone for a game that got a little chippy but never out of control.

Canada had a seven-point lead after the first quarter and bumped that to 13 by the half.

But it was it was the beginning of the second half when Canada really pulled away led by Gilgeous-Alexander and his cousin, Nickiel Alexander-Walker.

Alexander-Walker, who began his NBA career in New Orleans but now calls Utah home, started in the backcourt alongside Gilgeous Alexander but two quick fouls landed him on the bench for the bulk of the first half.

He came out looking to make amends in the second half before fouling out with about three minutes to go in the third.

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Alexander-Walker wound up playing just over 10 minutes but had eight points in that time.

Canadian head coach Nick Nurse relied heavily on the trio of Gilgeous Alexander, Olynyk, and Dwight Powell in this one with all three playing at least 34 minutes.

UP NEXT: Canada heads right back on the road following the win over Argentina to take on Panama. They will make that trip without their starting backcourt from Thursday’s game as both Gilgeous-Alexander and Alexander-Walker will miss the game, the latter to have his wisdom teeth removed. Joseph will also miss the game due to a family matter. Trae Bell-Haynes, JV Mukama and Abu Kigab will replace that trio on the roster.

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