Canadian U19 hoops squad stuns the world

It has been a long wait, but Canada’s men’s program is finally the king of the basketball universe.

A day after a stunning semifinal upset over the heavily favoured United States, Canada was never threatened in a 79-60 rout over Italy to win the FIBA U19 World Cup in Cairo.

Forward R.J. Barrett of Mississauga, Ont., was held to 18 points, most of them coming at the freethrow line, after dropping 38 on the Americans, but his teammates stepped up in a major way.

Lindell Wigginton of Dartmouth, N.S., returned to the lineup after missing the previous two games due to injury and was excellent with 11 points and three assists.

Nate Darling of Lower Sackville, N.S., and Abu Kigab of St. Catharines, Ont., each added 12 points. Kigab and Danilo Djuricic of Brampton, Ont., each hauled in 10 rebounds, helping Canada to a 71-46 edge on the glass.

Barrett, the son of longtime national team standout Rowan Barrett, was named tournament MVP despite only turning 17 last week.

The win gave Canada its first gold at a FIBA men’s event. Canada won silver at the 1936 Olympics.

Canadian coach Roy Rana also guided a team that featured Andrew Wiggins, now with the NBA’s Minnesota Timberwolves, to a bronze medal at the 2010 world under-17 championship.

Wiggins posted a photograph of Canada’s winning team on his Instagram account with the caption: “Congratulations to Team Canada for making history on winning the #FIBAU19 World Cup Championship.”

Former NBA superstar Steve Nash took to Twitter to congratulate them.

“BIG Congrats Canada’s U19’s. World Champs! Lots of hard work from lots of people @CanBball for years. Enjoy this Canada. #WeAreTeamCanada,” he tweeted.