‍TORONTO, Ont. (December 20, 2020) – Canada’s NBA 2K eNational Team finished fourth in the FIBA Esports Open II North and Central American conference in their first tournament appearance this weekend.

“In this inaugural international 2K event for Canada, we showed that as a country we're right there with the best nations in the world," said Shane Talbot, Team Manager. "A couple close losses were the difference, but those served as great learning opportunities to develop our poise and camaraderie, which is very strong on this team after a relatively short time together. We're all looking forward to growing as a team and for future opportunities to represent our country on the global stage.”

Canada finished the Group Phase with a 3-3 record, missing out on a berth in the North and Central American Grand Finals.

After a decisive 89-39 victory over Costa Rica to open the tournament, Canada dropped a close game to the United States, 67-61.  Canada bounced back in a big way, defeating Guatemala 151-35, a FIBA record for points in a game, to improve to 2-1.  However, Canada couldn’t keep the momentum going as they ran into a difficult opponent in Puerto Rico, falling 82-56 to conclude the first day of action.

After dropping the opening game on Sunday to Dominican Republic 64-58, Canada dominated Honduras from start to finish, 137-42 to conclude their play in the FIBA Esports Open II North and Central American conference.

“Canada was able to show that we have one of the most dynamic backcourt tandems in the world with a record-setting weekend," said Sam Pham, Head Coach. "However, the tournament also exposed some of our shortcomings as a team. Going forward, we will continue to build on our strengths and improve on our ability to avoid turnovers.”

Canada was one of seven federations that competed in the FIBA Esports Open II North and Central American conference.  Globally, an expanded field of 38 national teams from across all FIBA regions participated in the second edition of the FIBA Esports Open.

This was the first Esports competition for Canada Basketball and the second edition of the FIBA Esports Open.  The first FIBA Esports Open was the inaugural international esports event for national teams and was held over three days in June and featured 114 gamers from 17 national federations across Oceania, Southeast Asia, the Middle-East, Europe and South America.

To find out more visit the FIBA Esports Open website here.