Kelowna’s Shephard wins hoops silver at Commonwealth Games

Kelowna’s Grant Shephard, of the UBC Thunderbirds, was part of Canada’s silver-medal winning men’s basketball team at the recent Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia.

Shephard and UBC teammate Conor Morgan were part of a roster made up entirely of U SPORTS players, including six from the Canada West Conference. That group also featured Justus Alleyn (Manitoba), Mamadou Gueye (Alberta), Mambi Diawara (Calgary) and David Kapinga (Calgary).

Gueye banked in a three-point buzzerbeater to move Canada into the goldmedal game with a wild 88-86 win over New Zealand on Saturday.

Alleyn delivered the game-winning assist after a Canadian timeout with five seconds remaining.

Ryerson’s Ammanuel Diressa led Canada with 22 points, while Morgan added 19 and Carleton’s Munis Tutu contributed 17 points and a team-high six assists.

Canada led 45-42 and 75-58 going into the final quarter before falling behind late.

That dramatic win guaranteed Canada its first medal in men’s basketball at the Commonwealth Games. Canada did not enter a team at the Melbourne Games in 2006, the only other time basketball was on the program.

However, host Australia was the class of the tournament with a team full of pros and handily defeated Canada 87-47 in Sunday’s gold-medal game. Australia had previously beaten Canada 95-55 in the tournament opener for both teams.

In the women’s bronze-medal game, New Zealand beat Canada 74-58. Ceejay Nofuente led Canada with 18 points. Australia also won the women’s gold, 99-55 over England.

The Canadian men won medal No. 82 for the country at these games (15 gold, 40 silver, 27 bronze), tying the total from four years ago in Glasgow (32-16-34).

Basketball will be on the program at the 2022 games in Birmingham, England, but it will be the 3-on-3 variety.

Shephard was also a member of the squad that won the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup 2017 in Cairo.