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Canada basketball
Holly MacKenzie

Canada defeats Egypt to finish 9th at the FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup 2022

U17 Men

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Jul 10, 2022

ALHAURÍN DE LA TORRE, Spain -- The Canadian U17 Men’s National Team defeated Egypt 92-70 in a seeding classification game at the FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup 2022 in Spain on Sunday.

Canada was led by a balanced scoring effort as four players reached double figures in victory. This was Canada's seventh game in the tournament. After jumping out to an early 7-0 lead to start, Canada never trailed in the game and used a 17-3 run to close the quarter and lead 29-12 after the opening 10 minutes.

Jaion Pitt and Ishan Sharma scored 13 points apiece for Canada, while Mikkel Tyne and Christian Nitu each added 12 points and Osezojie Baraka Okojie showed off his all-around game with eight points, nine rebounds and seven assists in just 22 minutes of play.

Egypt was led by a 23-point performance from Seifeldin Hendawy and 19 points from Karim Elgizaqy, who also added eight rebounds and seven assists in the loss.

Canada shot 52 percent  from the floor compared to just 35 percent shooting for Egypt as the Canadians steadily continued to add to their lead to break the game open by halftime.

The teams traded baskets to start the second quarter, but Egypt was not able to gain any ground as the Canadians scored eight straight points as Egypt went scoreless for nearly four minutes of game time coinciding with Okojie entering with 6:43 remaining in the half.

Okojie was everywhere for Canada, making his presence felt during the run as he crashed the boards, earning Canada extra possessions through his offensive rebounding, as well as setting up his teammates to extend Canada’s advantage to 24 points, 45-21, with 3:24 remaining in the half.

Back-to-back layups from Elgizawy and Adam Elhalawany made it a 20-point game with 2:46 remaining in the half, but Pitt closed the half with a blocked shot, a layup assisted by Okojie, and then a pull-up jumper to give Canada a 53-28 advantage at the half.

Canada outrebounded Egypt 53-34, including 13-9 on the offensive glass. The Canadians also held a 60-17 edge in bench points scored and a 17-6 advantage in second chance points.

In the fourth, Egypt scored first with a three-pointer from Selim Elselmy, but Olivier Rioux responded with a dunk for Canada. A mini 6-0 run by Egypt trimmed Canada’s lead to 74-52, but Egypt wouldn’t get any closer 21 the rest of the way through.