CIS Hoops.ca

Former Pitt Panther star Carl Krauser was the catalyst in a game-deciding 12-1 run late in the fourth quarter with a steal and assist plus 4 consecutive free throws to lead the U.S. Virgin Islands to a 74-67 victory over Canada on the third day of the Pan-Am Games men's basketball event. Krauser, who played in Europe last season, had 14 of his game-high 20 points after the intermission, while 6'6" Cuthbert Victor (Murray State '03) added 18, including 14 in the second half to lead ISV (country abbreviation for U.S. Virgin Islands). In the second half alone, Krauser went 7-8 from the line while Cuthbert got it going as well with a 5-7 effort from the field as ISV overcame a 4 point halftime deficit, taking the lead after a 19-9 run off the start of the second half. Down 58-52 early in the fourth quarter, Canada had a mini 6-0 run including an Andy Rautins 3 to tie the score. But Krauser stole the ball and fed 6'8" Jameel Haywood (Oklahoma '01) for a fast break layup and later made 4 consecutive 3's to give ISV an insurmountable 11 point lead. 6'2" Jermaine Anderson (Toronto, ON) led Canada with 17 points but only 6 after the break while 6'7" Rans Brempong (Thornhill, ON) had a solid 11 point, 6 rebound effort but did turn the ball over 5 times as Canada turned it over 25 times in all. Heywood, a six-year pro, added 11 points and 4 rebounds off the bench for ISV (1-2). 6'9" Vlad Kuljanin (Toronto, ON) and 6'5" Paul Larmand (Victoria Harbour, ON) added 9 each for Canada in the loss.

The Canadian coaching staff shook things up this afternoon, inserting 6'7" Aaron Doornekamp in the starting lineup replacing 6'5" Jermaine Bucknor who did not play today. Canada also used 6'4" Ryan Bell and 6'2" Osvaldo Jeanty early, as Jeanty, who did not play yesterday against Brazil, played about 6 1/2 minutes in the first half today, going 0-3 from 3 point land and then did not play the remainder of the game. Doornekamp played 24 minutes, scoring 6 points and grabbing 10 rebounds.

After falling behind by 7 at 14-7, Canada clawed back into the game and took a 1 point lead at 26-25 on a Kuljanin lay-in. Later, back-to-back 3's by Doornekamp and Anderson gave Canada their largest lead at 34-26 late in the first half. Canada fired it up from downtown, going 10-34 (29%) from beyond the arc and in fact took more 3's than 2's (14-26 from 2 point land). Anderson went 5 for 11 from 3 overall for Canada while Rautins had a 2-9 effort from 3. Rautins, Brempong and 6'8" Jesse Young all fouled out for Canada, which will play in the 5-8 classification round at 7 AM Eastern or 6:15 PM Eastern tomorrow against an as-yet-undetermined opponent.