Canada Break Losing Streak at the FIBA World Cup

With a game left in Group H, both Canada and Senegal were out of title contention in the FIBA World Cup, so the final match-up between the two would be for pride alone.

Senegal got off to the best start, their three-point shooters lifting them to a ten-point lead at the end of the first quarter. Canada responded in kind, closing the gap from beyond the arc and Cory Joseph adding points on the inside, giving the team a one-point lead at the half.

The second half began with some jostling for the lead, but the turning point was a ten-point unanswered run from Canada mid-way through the third. Senegal tried to keep up behind Mouhammad Faye's offence (He finished with 14 points) and Maurice Ndour's work on the defensive boards (Ending the game with twelve total rebounds) but Canada kept up the pressure while in possession and maintained their lead.

Joseph led the scoring in this one with 24 points as Canada finished as winners 82 to 60. This was Canada's first win at the World Cup since September 3rd 2002, when they beat Venezuela 98-97 in Indianapolis. They were absent from the 2006 and 2014 editions and failed to pick up a win at the 2010 tournament in Turkey.

This win will give them a boost as they move on to Group P of the classification round, along with Senegal and the two teams that failed to advance from Group G, Germany and Jordan. All results from the first group stage will be carried over to this second phase.

The best position Canada can now reach is seventeenth, and will begin this route on September 7th against Jordan and follow that up with a game against Germany on the 9th.

We will continue to provide updates on their progress while more information can be found on the official FIBA World Cup website.

Picture: FIBA.com