Early bird ticket packages on sale

He had his best game of the tournament against Canada in the goldmedal game, scoring 23 points and pulling down five rebounds in a 9984 win for the U.S.

USA Basketball has claimed the gold medal in eight of 10 editions of the event.

Puerto Rico claimed gold in 2002 and Argentina claimed gold in 2008. Canada has won silver medals in each of the last two tournaments and has medalled in five straight tournaments.

FIBA Americas is one of five FIBA zones, covering the American continent from Canada to Argentina.

The FIBA Under-18 Americas Basketball Championship was originally known as the FIBA Americas Junior World Championship Qualifier, and the tournament was held every four years between 1990-2006.

In 2006 FIBA changed the event calendar, and the tournament became a biennial event.

There are early bird ticket packages on sale for as low as $135 plus fees and on sale until Dec. 31.

The packages include every game and can be purchased online at www.ticketmaster.ca, by phone 1-855-985-5000, or in person at the Meridian Centre Bayshore Box Office, located on the main level of Meridian Centre.

The 2018 event will mark the first time Canada has hosted this event. It will serve as the direct qualifier for the FIBA U19 World Championships in 2019.

FIBA is the International Basketball Federation and acts as the world governing body for basketball. It was founded in 1932 and has grown from eight countries to include 213 national basketball federations from all over the world. bsawchuk@postmedia.com