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Managua, NICARAGUA (Feb 26, 2024) - The Senior Men’s National Team defeated Nicaragua 88-46 on Monday to move to 2-0 in the opening window of the FIBA Men’s AmeriCup 2025 Qualifiers. The victory came on Nicaragua’s home floor in Managua, Nicaragua, after Canada recorded a 96-51 win against Nicaragua on Canadian soil just three days earlier.

Jackson Rowe finished with a game-high 19 points go go with 10 rebounds while Aaron Best scored 16 points and four other players added eight points apiece. Kaza Kajami-Keane finished with a game-high 10 assists. Jared Ruiz scored 11 points to lead Nicaragua in the loss.

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“We really enjoyed our time being here in Nicaragua,” Team Canada head coach Nate Bjorkgren said. “The hotel was very nice, the people were really nice. The practice, the arena, everyone took really good care of us.”

Canada shot 42 percent while holding Nicaragua to 29 percent shooting in the game. The Canadians connected on 10 three-pointers, compared to four makes from deep for Nicaragua.

“I got to talk to Nicaragua’s coach a little bit,” Bjorkgren continued. “They have a good team, they have a good coach. It was a battle. You saw the beginning of the game, it was a battle and we had to prepare very well in order to come away with the victory.”

Nicaragua started the game strong, opening up a 10-4 lead as Bjorkgren called a timeout to talk things over with 4:55 remaining in the first quarter. Out of the timeout, Canada reeled off a 16-0 run to move in front. After a three from Kadre Gray and then a block from Best on one end and a three-pointer on the other, the game was tied at 10 points apiece. A three-point play for Thomas Kennedy gave Canada its first lead of the game, 13-10. Canada closed the quarter strong as an offensive rebound and putback from Lloyd Pandi extended the advantage to 10 points, 25-15, after the opening 10 minutes.

“We just wanted to come out and bring a lot of energy,” Pandi said. “We knew that Nicaragua was coming back to their home arena and that they were going to be ready. “You saw it in the first five minutes, how they played really hard and gave us a run for our money. The key was to just come out here, play hard, trust our coaching staff, trust ourselves and just play the right way.”

Canada remained in control to start the second quarter. Five straight points for Phil Scrubb extended Canada’s advantage to 13 points with four minutes remaining in the half. After a layup from Gray and then a steal and layup from Kajami-Keane, Canada led by 17 points. Gray connected on a pair of free throws to give Canada a 19-point advantage with 2:28 remaining in the half. Ruiz hit a pair of free throws to become the first Nicaraguan player to reach double figures, but even with another late bucket, also from Ruiz, the Nicaraguans trailed Canada 42-26 at the halftime break.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">First-Half Stats 📊<br><br>Canada is shooting 71.4% from 2-pt FG while holding Nicaragua to 27.3%<br><br>J. Rowe: 15pts, 6 reb, 1 blk<br>K. Kajami-Keane: 5 pts, 6 ast, 1 stl<br>K. Gray: 5 pts, 2 ast, 2 reb, 2 stl<br><br>Halftime<br>🇨🇦 42<br>🇳🇮 26<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AmeriCup?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AmeriCup</a> | LIVE on <a href="https://twitter.com/Sportsnet?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Sportsnet</a> + <a href="https://t.co/tK1O08aunF">pic.twitter.com/tK1O08aunF</a></p>&mdash; Canada Basketball (@CanBball) <a href="https://twitter.com/CanBball/status/1762298527164633448?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 27, 2024</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Nicaragua scored the first three points of the second half, but Trae Bell-Haynes and Scrubb hit a pair of three-pointers to extend Canada’s lead back to 19 points. Beautiful ball movement from the Canadians led to a corner three for Best to give Canada a 53-29 advantage midway through the third. Canada had another strong close to a quarter, outscoring Nicaragua 16-8 to take a 69-37 advantage into the final frame.

We take a lot of time watching their games, really watching their players,” Bjorkgren said of Team Nicaragua. “we want to be really good at taking away their strengths. It was a lot of preparation, a lot of meetings, and a lot of film that we did to prepare because [they are] a very good team.”

Canada struck first in the fourth as Kalif Young stole the ball from Josmel Martinez and Scrubb assisted on a layup for Bell-Haynes. The Canadians continued to stretch the lead as Scrubb and Best traded three-pointers to push their advantage to 35 points, 74-39, with 7:22 remaining. Despite the lead having swelled above 30, the Canadians continued to fight for every possession, diving on the floor for loose balls and continuing to pressure Nicaragua with their defence until the final buzzer sounded.

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After picking up their first victory at home on Friday and now winning on the road in Nicaragua, Pandi had a message for Canadian fans watching from home, as well as words of appreciation for the host team.

“[I'd] just like to thank the fans for their constant support,” he said. “We wouldn’t be in the position we are without them. Especially the last stretch that we’ve had, being successful in many different competitions. It’s due to their support. I’d like to thank them for constantly being with us in every single competition. And especially the visiting team and the teams that we play against, them being really receptive, especially in Nicaragua, and it being our first time here. It was a great opportunity and a great experience for us.”

Canada's next window of qualifiers for the FIBA Men's AmeriCup 2025 will begin in November, 2024.

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