Maldonado, Uruguay – (BasketballBuzz) – Canada’s U16 National Men’s team easily defeated host nation Uruguay 75-53 to improve to 3-0 and win group B at the 2013 FIBA Americas championships.
The victory also qualifies Canada for 2014 FIBA U17 World Championships, location still to be determined.
Jamal Murray (Kitchener, ON) once again paced the young Canadians with a game-high 17 points and nine rebounds. Murray knocked down 4-of-8 triples, shot 6-of-14 from the floor in 25 minutes of action.
Hybrid point/foward Justin Jackson also played well with 15 points and eight rebounds. Ottawa’s Eddie Ekiyor also reached double-figures with 11 points on 4-of-5 shooting.
Canada jumped all-over the Uruguayans holding them to just 4 points right up to the last minute and took a 15-7 lead after one, thanks to eight first-quarter turnovers.
Uruguay behind an animated home court crowd got back in the game and trailed by only four points at 19-15, Canada then erupted on a 21-2 run to end the quarter and put the game out of reach with a 40-17 lead at half-time advantage.
Uruguay played much better in the second half, by outscoring Canada 20-15 in the third and stick close in the fourth.
Federico Baltasar lead Uruguay (0-3) on the scoresheet with 15 points and eight rebounds.
Canada advances to the semi-finals where it will play Argentina (2-1). The other semi-final will see Puerto Rico take on the undefeated Americans for the opportunity to play for Gold.
