Recap The Court

Jacob Smith

The Canadian Senior Men’s National Team defeated the Dominican Republic 95-75 on Friday Night in a 2023 FIBA World Cup Olympic Qualifier game.  Canada moves to 5-0 in Group C with the Dominican at 3-2.

Canada started the first quarter from the perimeter making three of their first four baskets from outside.  A Shai Gilgeous-Alezander dunk followed by a trio of threes put Canada up 11-8 while Dominican Republic used their physicality inside the paint to get baskets around the rim.  Canada shot 11 threes in the first quarter, making five of them while Dominican shot only three making none.  Canada’s 14-12 rebounding lead along with nine points from Nickeil Alezander-Walker and seven points from Gilgeous-Alexander gave Canada a slim 21-16 lead going into the second quarter.

The Dominican Republic pushed back in the second quarter with their ability to get to the free throw line.  They forced numerous Canada turnovers and took advantage by pounding the paint and either creating a layup for Liz or creating space for a Araujo three-pointer.  After two free throws from Kyle Alexander to put Canada up 37-35, that ballooned out to a double-digit lead at halftime thanks to the post play of Kelly Olynyk, Kyle Alexander and the shooting of Alexander-Walker.  

Alexander-Walker and Gilgeous-Alexander both pushed their way to 12 points at halftime while Olynyk recorded 11 points along with seven rebounds.  On the side of the Dominican, Jhonatan Araujo led with seven points, Victor Liz recording five points and Angel Delgado with four points and four rebounds.  Canada led 46-36 over the Dominican at halftime.

The third quarter saw the ball go inside the paint often on both sides.  Powell and Delgado scored a majority of the early points for either side and Canada kept their lead at 10.  Once Canada was able to create turnovers, Shai found his rhythm from beyond the arc and two threes along with a set of jumpers extended Canada’s lead throughout the last five minutes of the third quarter.  

Going into the fourth quarter, Shai pushed his total to 28 points with Olynyk at 17 and Canada led 76-48.

Dominican started the fourth quarter with six points inside the paint off of three different opportunities.  With the lead at 78-54, Liz hit a three and immediately forced a steal where he fed the ball to Solano in transition for a dunk to bring the deficit to 19, 78-59.  Now on a 11-2 Dominican run, Canada called a timeout.  After a pair of defensive stops, Olynyk found Thomas Scrubb in the corner where he hit a three-pointer to put Canada up 22 and stop the Dominican run momentarily.

From then on, Canada and the Dominican traded buckets but Canada’s efficient ball movement kept their lead at around 20 points for the last five minutes of the quarter.  Alexander-Walker and Gilgeous-Alexander paced the offence as Canada got their shots and made the most of them.  Up 90-70 with 2:16 remaining, Canada held on to win 95-75 against the Dominican Republic. 

Gilgeous-Alexander finished with a game high 32 points to go with five rebounds, five assists, three steals and two blocks.  Alexander-Walker finished with 17 points, three rebounds, three assists, three steals and a block.  Olynyk recorded 17 points, 11 rebounds, six assists and three steals.

Adonys Henriquez finished with 14 points and a pair of rebounds.  Liz finished with 12 points, three rebounds, three assists and four steals.  Both Rigoberto Mendoza and Jhonatan Araujo finished with 10 points.