FIBA Americas Championship: Canada falters in fourth quarter, lose to Puerto Rico 83-67

A big fourth quarter by tournament favourite Puerto Rico did in Canada's senior men's national basketball team in their second game at the FIBA Americas Championship in Caracas, Venezuela.

Puerto Rico outscored Canada 24-9 in the final period on their way to an 83-67 victory. It was a tight game until then, with Puerto Rico holding a 59-58 lead after three quarters.

"I think we can feel good the way we competed for 3 quarters," said Canada's head coach Jay Triano. "We competed with one of most experienced teams in tourney, if not the most experienced. In tournaments like this you have 8 games in 10 days we have to forget one and move on to the next one right away."

International veterans (and former NBA players) Carlos Arroyo and Renaldo Balkman led the way for Puerto Rico. Arroyo led his team with 20 points on 7/17 from the field. Balkman contributed 18 points and grabbed 11 rebounds.

"Those guys know how to play the international game and how to withstand the emotions," said Triano. "They've been around for a while and it shows. We obviously are in the learning process with a lot of young players."

Andrew Nicholson and Tristan Thompson were the dominant players for Canada. Nicholson scored a game-high 21 points to go along with 7 rebounds before fouling out of the game midway through the fourth. Thompson finished with 20 points and 9 rebounds.

While Nicholson and Thompson thrived on the inside, the rest of the Canadian team struggled from the perimeter. Cory Joseph was 2/10, Devoe Joseph went 1/7, and Andy Rautins shot 3/7 from the floor as Canada combined to shoot 35% as a team.

The loss drops Canada to 1-1 in round-robin play. Their next game is against Brazil on Sunday (11:30 a.m. Eastern/8:30 a.m. Pacific, SN360).