Following an 88-85 win over Spain that went all the way down to the wire on Friday, the Canadian males’s basketball crew finishes with an unblemished 3-0 report to finish group play, securing their spot within the Olympic quarterfinals.
The 2 heavyweights of Group A — also referred to as the ‘Group of Loss of life’ for its rounded-out degree of ability — went blow for blow to begin the sport, till Canada broke away within the second quarter, going into the half up by 11.
With this being a should win for Spain, they weren’t taking place and not using a combat. They clawed their means again into rivalry by narrowing the hole to 2 within the fourth however couldn’t recover from the hump.
A key consider holding the lead for Canada was when Toronto Raptor RJ Barrett hit a dagger three within the remaining minute to increase his crew’s result in 5.
It become a nail-biting, dramatic end as free throws had been wanted to shut out the ultimate seconds. Nevertheless, Spain earned an opportunity to tie with a half-court buzzer beating shot however couldn’t discover the mesh.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander lead the crew in scoring with 20 factors whereas Andrew Nembhard contributed 18 off the bench from 8-of-10 taking pictures.
It wasn’t lengthy after the clock hit zero earlier than Canadians, and pure basketball followers outdoors the maple borders, took to twitter to specific their awe of the way in which the Canadian membership closed out their remaining group stage recreation. Listed below are a few of these reactions:
As talked about, spectators had been blown away by the timing of Barrett’s contested three-pointer to increase the Canadian lead:
