Canada romps past Lebanon, France eliminated at FIBA men's basketball World Cup
RJ Barrett leads balanced Canadian attack with 17 points
RJ Barrett scored a game-high 17 points and Canada cruised to a 128-73 win over Lebanon on Sunday at the FIBA Men's Basketball World Cup.
All but two Canadians scored in double digits as Canada set a tournament record with 44 assists in improving to 2-0 at the tournament and advanced to the second round.
Trae Bell-Haynes had 15 points, hitting five of the six shots he took from three-point range, and added eight assists.
Melvin Ejim had 13 points, while Kelly Olynyk, Zach Edey, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Nickeil Alexander-Walker had 12 apiece. Kyle Alexander and Dillon Brooks each chipped in 10.
"We played together, we shared the basketball," Canada head coach Jordi Fernandez said. "Forty-four assists to 15 turnovers is a record in the World Cup. It just shows that sharing is caring and these guys were ready to play the right way."
WATCH | Canada blows out Lebanon at FIBA World Cup
The 15th-ranked Canadians entered Sunday's game having thumped fifth-ranked France 95-65 on Friday.
"We're super excited that we kept our momentum going," Bell-Haynes said. "We talked about making sure that there wasn't any fall off [after our win against France], keeping the momentum going and I think we did a good job.
"Our confidence is high. You could see everyone was playing well, playing free. Happy that we kept that going and hope we can continue to do that."
Omari Spellman led Lebanon with 16 points.
Canada — which shot 71 per cent from the floor, including 18-of-30 from three-point range — was up 16 points after the first quarter and went into halftime up 36.
The Canadians went into the fourth quarter up 100-48, with no player getting more than 20 minutes of action in the contest.
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"The most important game is the next game," Fernandez said. "Right now we have Latvia in our minds. We have to prepare for them. We're going to play really hard against them for 40 minutes because they're very good. We need that to grow.
"We don't have the experience and we challenge ourselves to a high standard. Yes, I'm happy with what we've done, but what we've done is in the past. It just reinforces, it gives you confidence, but you need that next challenge and that next challenge is in front of us."
Canada shot 71 per cent, and played without Lu Dort, who was held out with soreness. Former NBA player Omari Spellman led Lebanon with 16 points.
Latvia 88, France 86
France came to the World Cup planning to win gold. It won't even make the second round, an absolutely stunning development for the reigning Olympic silver medallists.
Latvia got 22 points from Arturs Zagars and shocked France 88-86 Sunday night. The result sent Latvia and Canada through to the second round, and meant France — which won the bronze at the last two World Cups — cannot finish better than 17th place this year.
Rolands Smits added 20 points and Davis Bertans had 15 points, as Latvia rallied from a 13-point deficit. It took the lead for the first time with 37.7 seconds left and held on when Sylvain Francisco missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer.
Evan Fournier had 27 points for France, who lost to Canada in its opener.
The momentum swung in the middle of the fourth quarter when France playmaker Nando de Colo was ejected after receiving his second unsportsmanlike foul.
Latvia and Canada will play for Group H's top spot on Tuesday.
Dominican Republic 87, Italy 82
Karl-Anthony Towns and the Dominican Republic stayed perfect at the Basketball World Cup, with a trip to the second round in their sights.
Towns and Andres Feliz each scored 24 points, and the Dominican Republic connected on 16 3-pointers in an 87-82 win over Italy in a Group A game at Manila on Sunday.
Feliz had seven of those 3s for the winners (2-0). Towns finished with 11 rebounds and Jean Montero had 12 points, nine assists, six rebounds and three steals.
"Getting the job done," Towns said. "I think we did a great job and found a way to win. Andres and everybody down the line was amazing. This was a great team win."
Italy (1-1) led 12-0 to open the game but led only 39-38 at the half — and lost coach Gianmarco Pozzecco to a second-quarter ejection after he picked up his second technical foul.
The game changed entirely in the third; the Dominican Republic outscored Italy 31-17 in those 10 minutes, then held off a rally in the fourth.
Marco Spissu led Italy with 17 points, while Simone Fontecchio scored 13, Giampaolo Ricco had 12 and Achille Polonara added 10.
Italy plays the Philippines to end group play on Tuesday, while the Dominican Republic takes on Angola.
Italy can still advance to the second round with a win on Tuesday, but the players know facing the home team in what will almost surely be an elimination game will be difficult.
"It's going to be exciting," Italy's Luigi Datome said. "It's going to be a nice atmosphere and all the players like to play in a nice atmosphere."
Germany 85, Australia 82
At Okinawa, Dennis Schroder scored 30 points and added eight assists and Germany (2-0) closed in on a spot in the second round.
Maodo Lo scored 20 for Germany, which trailed by four entering the final quarter but opened it on a 10-0 run.
Australia tied the game twice in the fourth. Both times, Schroder had an immediate answer to reclaim the lead. His basket with 46 seconds left put Germany ahead for good.
Patty Mills, as he did in the first game, led Australia with 21 points, five rebounds and six assists. Matisse Thybulle had 17 for Australia, which was only 9 for 16 from the foul line.
Germany played without Franz Wagner, who sat with an ankle injury.
Australia could need a victory in its final group game against Japan — the home team in the group — on Tuesday to advance. Germany finishes group play against Finland.
Montenegro 89, Egypt 74
At Manila, Nikola Vucevic had 16 points and seven rebounds and Montenegro (2-0) had little trouble with Egypt.
Nikola Ivanovic scored 15 for Montenegro, while Kendrick Perry scored 11 and Vladimir Mihailovic and Dino Radoncic finished with 10 apiece.
Ehab Amin led all scorers with 26 points for Egypt (0-2), while Anas Mahmoud and Patrick Gardner each finished with 13.
A major difference was points off turnovers: Montenegro turned Egypt's 22 giveaways into 30 points, while Egypt managed 17 points off Montenegro's 16 turnovers.
Montenegro plays Lithuania on Tuesday, and Egypt will take on Mexico.
With files from CBC Sports, the Associated Press
