Canadian men's, women's wheelchair basketball teams out of world medal hunt in Dubai
Men advance to 5th-place game, while women drop quarterfinal to the Netherlands
Patrick Anderson clearly didn't like how he or the Canadian men's wheelchair basketball team was faring against Australia, so he decided to let his play do the talking.
Canada had been outscored 17-9 in the second quarter of Saturday's 5-8 crossover game at the world championships when Anderson poured in 17 of the squad's 22 third-quarter points for a 49-47 lead entering the final 10 minutes.
While the 43-year-old shooting guard from Fergus, Ont., didn't score in the fourth quarter of Canada's 62-57 victory, he topped all players with 26 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists.
"Some of the boys were calling it a vintage, throwback performance and bringing up numbers like 2000 and 2012 — that made me feel good and old at the same time," Anderson told Wheelchair Basketball Canada. "At this point in the tournament, it felt good to have a great win and see the bench come alive."
The Canadians, who improved its record to 3-3 in Dubai, will face Italy in the fifth-place match on Monday at 11 a.m. ET while Australia (4-2) meets Germany in the 7-8 contest following a second consecutive loss.
Earlier Saturday, Canada's women dropped a 66-47 quarterfinal decision to the Netherlands and draw Spain in the 5-8 crossover on Sunday at 4 a.m. ET. Watch live coverage on CBCSports.ca, the CBC Sports app and CBC Gem.
Robert Hedges and Garrett Ostepchuk had eight points apiece for the Canadian men on Saturday, with the latter scoring six in the opening quarter. Colin Higgins added nine rebounds and seven assists.
WATCH | Full coverage of men's 5-8 game — Canada vs. Australia:
"We want to finish better than our eighth-place showing at the [2020] Tokyo Paralympics," Hedges said on Friday.
Canada is guaranteed a top-six finish, its best since a seventh-place performance at 2010 worlds in Birmingham, England. The senior men's national team was also 12th at this event in 2018 in Hamburg, Germany.
Quarterfinal loss to Dutch
"It's been a long road from finishing 12th in Hamburg and eighth in Tokyo, slowly, like turning a ship, it's slowly turning in the right direction," Anderson said. "We'll be up for our final game for sure."
The Australians were led by captain Tristan Knowles's 15 points while Bill Latham had 13 points and eight rebounds.
Canada, which lost 68-53 to the Netherlands in Friday's quarterfinals, led by as many as six points in the final quarter and the Aussies couldn't draw closer, missing a pair of three-point attempts in the final minute.
Australia padded its advantage to eight points at 43-35 with 6:09 left in the third quarter when Anderson went to work. Canada cut the deficit to two with 1:58 remaining and pulled even on an Anderson basket with 77 seconds on the clock.
His 26th point of the game gave the Canadians a 49-47 lead with 24 seconds left in the quarter. At the time, they had scored 14 points off turnovers compared to six by Australia.
The Australians began their impressive run when trailing 18-15 in the last minute of the first quarter, which ended 18-18.
Australia scored the next seven points, capped by a three-pointer from point guard Shaun Norris, who scored nine of his club's 20 points off the bench while adding four rebounds and three assists.
Anderson converted a three-point shot but Australia made him pay for an unsportsmanlike foul, with Norris draining two foul shots. The Australians led by 10 late in the quarter and six before the start of the fourth.
Women won world gold in 2014
Canada was searching for its first medal in the men's tournament since winning gold in 2006, which capped a six-year podium streak at worlds. The team has now missed the podium at the last four editions.
The Canadian women, meanwhile, have won seven world championship medals since the inaugural edition in 1990, most recently gold on home soil in 2014. They were fifth at 2018 worlds and 2020 Olympics.
The Dutch led by seven at halftime and extended its lead to 49-34 with a 14-4 run to open the third quarter. The Netherlands shot 44. 3 per cent from the field and held Canada to 19-of-52 shooting. The Canadians also committed 13 turnovers to only five by the Dutch.
"We had more turnovers today than we've had all tournament, so that cost us a little bit," said Canada head coach Marni Abbott-Peter. "Our decision-making was excellent. We had those opportunities and those looks, but we didn't finish those passes, so that was pretty tough on us.
"The Netherlands is the No. 1 team in the world, and they showed that today. They played great defence, and they made it tough for us. They also shot very well, and they're a very disciplined team, and that's the reason they've been on top for so long."
Kady Dandeneau and Arrin Young each had 15 points in Saturday's loss while Cindy Ouellet added 11.
"We've still got two more games here and can finish fifth, and we'd be proud of that result," Abbott-Peter said. "We're feeling positive. We're definitely disappointed, but we're not beating ourselves up about it. We know we can do better, and we'll regroup and be better next game."
The world championships determine the number of spots each zone will receive for the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris. The four zones in the International Wheelchair Basketball Federation (IWBF) are Africa, Americas, Asia Oceania and Europe.
Canada's men's and women's wheelchair basketball teams will also compete at the 2023 Parapan American Games (Nov. 17-26), which will serve as the Americas zone qualification tournament for the Paris Games.
WATCH | Full coverage of women's quarterfinal — Canada vs. the Netherlands:
