By Canadian Press

Nigeria rebounds to beat Canada in pre-FIBA World Cup friendly

Aug 9, 2019 | 8:44 PM

WINNIPEG — The Canadian national basketball men’s team couldn’t quite erase a 10-point deficit late in the fourth quarter, losing 90-81 to Nigeria in exhibition play on Friday night.

Canada narrowed the gap to 82-81, but Nigeria’s Jordan Nwora hit a three-pointer with a minute remaining to make it 85-81 in front of 8,000 fans at Bell MTS Place. Nigeria held Canada off the scoreboard the rest of the way.

Nwora led all scorers with 19 points. Philip Scrubb had 12 points for Canada, which beat Nigeria 96-87 on Wednesday night in Toronto in the opener of the two-game series.

Both teams are gearing up for the FIBA World Cup, which starts later this month in China.

Scrubb built his team a 7-0 lead to start the game, but a three-pointer and a big dunk by Nwora help swing the lead to the visitors’ favour.

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Scrubb, who hails from Richmond, B.C., and plays for Spain’s Club Estudiantes, then sailed in a three-pointer to start the tide turning back.

Canada finished the first quarter ahead 27-18 off 10 points by Scrubb and six from Aaron Best. Nwora had seven points for Nigeria in the first quarter.

Nigeria pushed back in the second quarter. A three-point shot by Nigeria’s Chimezie Metu (San Antonio Spurs) at the buzzer squeezed Canada’s lead to 49-47 at halftime.

The teams traded leads for most of the third quarter until Nigeria pulled ahead and mounted a nine-point lead. Canada’s Kyle Wiltjer sailed in a three-pointer with three seconds left to cut Nigeria’s lead to 75-67 heading into the fourth quarter.

Wiltjer, who plays in Turkey, was then injured early in the fourth and left the court. He was later seen riding a bike.

Canadian coach Nick Nurse received a technical foul with seven minutes left in the game after arguing with the referee about fouls. One fan yelled, “Do you know who he is?” to the official, referring to Nurse coaching the Toronto Raptors to an NBA championship this year.

Nigeria had a 10-point lead, but Canada sliced it down to 80-78 on baskets from Owen Klassen and Oshae Brissett.

The Canadians were flying to Australia after Friday’s game for a five-game exhibition series against Australia, the U.S. and New Zealand. They’ll play Australia on Aug. 16 and 17 and New Zealand twice (Aug. 20-21). They wrap up their exhibition schedule Aug. 26 versus the U.S..

They tip off the World Cup on Sept. 1 versus Australia in Dongguan, China. With a top-eight showing, they would play right up until Sept. 14 or 15 — a couple of weeks before NBA teams open training camps.

The World Cup has huge ramifications for the national program, as the top seven finishers qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Teams who don’t qualify are relegated to last-chance qualifying tournaments next summer.

Judy Owen, The Canadian Press