TAIPEI CITY, TAIWAN (August 22, 2017)- The Canadian Men's basketball team bounced back in style after their previous match, dominating their duel against Hong Kong from start to finish with a final score of 125-55 on Tuesday night at the Universiade in Taipei.

The red and white quickly gained a 9-2 lead at the beginning of the encounter and never looked back. Erik Randall Nissen of Acadia University collected a double-double with 20 points and 11 rebounds. Kaza Kajami-Keane of Carleton University put up yet another strong performance with 18 points, while Kevin Bercy of StFX University added 17 points to the board. Alexandre Leclerc of Université Laval led the team in rebounds, with 13.

"This whole tournament so far we've been nurturing some injuries that happened when we played against Purdue in training camp. It was very important for us to have a game where we could rest Conor Morgan and Connor Wood," said Canadian head coach Kevin Hanson, who was happy to see Wood find his bearings after a tough game against Finland the day before. "Connor is still recovering from his ankle injury. We really wanted to get him going and he hit 3-for-3 from three in the first half. So it's nice to give him limited minutes but still have him play well."

Canada showed its superiority early in the game. After the first quarter, the Canadian team had already scored twice more than its opponents, leading 30-15. A lead that did not stop increasing, with 57-32 at half and then 95-50 after three quarters. In the last quarter, Hong Kong was no longer in it mentally, and was defeated 30-5.

The Canadian team will play its next game against Japan, which beat Hong Kong by four points earlier in the tournament.

"We're at a point now, in the round robin play, where you have to win. It's do or die still, so we're approaching every game like it's do or die," explained Hanson.

The Canada-Japan duel will take place this Thursday, August 24 at 8:00 a.m. (EST).

SOURCE: U SPORTS

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