Olynyk lifts Canada over Brazil
Kamloops product scores 20 points in 85-77 victory
LAVAL, Que. (CP) — Kelly Olynyk had 20 points and 18 rebounds to lift Canada to an 85-77 victory over Brazil to open the second round of World Cup qualifying on Thursday night.
Cory Joseph contributed 16 points and 10 assists, while Tristan Thompson had 12 boards, and Kevin Pangos chipped in 10 points and eight assists.
Leandro Barbosa, playing like he’d barely lost a step at age 35, led Brazil with 18 points.
Canada (6-1) and Venezuela, which improved to 6-1 with an 84-69 win over the U.S. Virgin Islands, share the top spot in Group F, while Brazil dropped to 5-2.
Canada’s road to the 2019 World Cup is about to get significantly tougher since it won’t have any NBA players — Olynyk, Thompson, Joseph, Justin Jackson and Khem Birch played on Thursday — nor Barcelona FC guard Pangos, for the team’s final five World Cup qualifying games.
The Canadians will make a 19-hour trek to Valdivia, Chile, for a sold-out game against the Chileans on Monday.
With NBA training camps just a week away, none of Canada’s NBA players, nor Pangos, who must return to Barcelona, are expected to make that trip to Chile.
In front of a half-full Place Bell arena on Thursday, the Canadians took a 22-19 lead into the second quarter.
Tied 26-26 in the second, Olynyk scored nine consecutive points and Canada ended the half on a 15-7 run to take a 40-33 advantage into the break.
Canada was up 50-37 before Brazil battled back to pull to within four points late in the third.
The World Cup is next year in China.