Americans slam Canadians in U18 hoops final

ST. CATHARINES, ONT. Before Saturday’s tipoff of the gold medal game, the U.S. basketball team watched highlights of Canada’s historic victory over the Americans at last summer’s under-19 world championship.

Then the Americans exacted some revenge — a 113-74 thumping of Canada to claim their fifth consecutive FIBA U18 Americas Championship title.

“Probably hungry, lots of revenge and just trying to kill us in every aspect of the game. And they came out and pretty much did that,” said Andrew Nembhard.

A.J. Lawson had 18 points and 12 rebounds, while Nembhard had 12 points and eight assists, but seven turnovers. Tyrese Samuel chipped in with 13 points and 11 rebounds.

But the Canadians were barely in the game after the first quarter.

Trailing 29-20 after one, it was all but over when the Canadians headed into the dressing room at halftime in a 61-33 hole.

“I feel like as a group we were just nervous,” said Nembhard, who will play for the University of Florida next year. “I feel like next year (in the U19 World Cup) we’ll have those jitters out and be more successful against them.”

They trailed by as many as 33 points in the third quarter and went into the fourth down 84-52 in front of a crowd of 4,240 fans at the Meridian Centre. Cole Anthony topped the U.S. with 18 points.

The Canadians had already earned their spot in next summer’s FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup by finishing in the top four in the tournament.

“We had a good week, we did some good things,” said coach Dave Smart. “It’s the first time for a lot of these guys and sometimes when it’s the first time, sometimes when things go much differently than you’re used to it’s hard to get back on track and understand how to get back on track.”