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CANADA LOSES CLOSE MATCH TO URUGUAY AT FIBA AMERICAS

(see also extensive post game quotes at the end of this release)

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - Team Canada captain Jesse Young (Peterborough, Ont.) gave another outstanding performance, racking up a game-high 20 points and eight boards, but Uruguay managed to pull out a 71-69 win on Saturday at the FIBA Americas Championship.

The loss was the first for the Canadian Senior Men's National Team and leaves them tied with Uruguay in Group A at 2-1, in second place behind Puerto Rico. Both Canada and Uruguay advance to the quarter-finals, along with six other nations.

“We did a good job the first two games but just didn’t come out with the same intensity and focus that we needed,” said Leo Rautins, Head Coach of the Senior Men’s National Team. “We didn’t match Uruguay’s intensity and had a lot of mental mistakes. We got away from what we need to do to be successful. That certainly hurt us in the ball game, especially down the end.”

Young's 20 points came on 7-of-11 from the field and 6-of-8 from the line. Starting centre Joel Anthony (Montreal) netted 13 points (6-7 from the field) and six rebounds, while Carl English (Patrick's Cove, N.L.) added 12 points and five boards. Point guard Jermaine Anderson (Toronto) had nine points and six assists.

Guard Martin Osimani was great when it counted -- at the beginning and end of Uruguay's second win of the tournament -- finishing with 14 points and nine assists while centre Esteban Batista led with 19 points and 12 rebounds. Leandro Garcia Morales netted 11 points and Mauricio Aguiar 10.

Canada started the game with an 8-2 run but Osimani led a 7-0 run to give Uruguay a 9-8 lead after a three-pointer with 5:13 left. The first quarter finished 25-16 in favor of Uruguay as Osimani had eight points and five assists. Batista also had eight points.

Both teams showed a lot of intensity on defence as baskets didn't come easy for either side and the first half ended 36-31 for Uruguay. Batista led with 10 points and Osimani had eight. Young had nine points for Canada and Olu Famutimi and Anthony each had seven.

The Canadians regained the lead in the third quarter but Uruguay ended the period with a 9-1 run to go up 51-47.

In the final quarter Canada made an 11-1 run led by Famutimi, Young and Anthony to put the score at 58-54 with 5:48 left. Then Uruguay made a final push thanks to Garcia Morales, Osimani and Batista to get the win. Osimani made a three-pointer to give Uruguay a 70-67 lead with 20.6 seconds left, then made a free throw to ice a 71-69 win.

“We put ourselves in a position to win but we still had to play from behind which is difficult,” added Anthony. “It came down to a last second shot at the end of the game and we weren’t able to get it. I give credit to Uruguay because they played really tough against us and didn’t give us anything easy. It was a tough game and we just have to look forward to tomorrow.”

Canada made 46 per cent of their shots from the floor, but only 22 per cent of their three-point attempts. Uruguay shot 43 per cent but did better on three-pointers at 34 per cent.

The 'Road Warriors' outscored Uruguay in three of the four quarters but just couldn't put enough together at the end.

On Sunday, Canada finishes the first round against Puerto Rico (3-0) while Uruguay takes on Mexico (1-2).

Anthony understands the demands for tomorrow’s game. “Coming against Puerto Rico we definitely have to come with a lot of energy right off the bat. They are going to have a lot of energy, they’re the home team and they haven’t lost yet in the tournament. We just have to come out strong and continue to play them tough.”

Canada's game is at 9 p.m. ET. See it live on The Score and The Score HD, and replayed on Raptors NBA TV at 12:30am ET.

For complete box scores, standings and schedule visit the official tournament website

Team Canada Post-Game Quotations

Joel Anthony – Team Canada starting centre on game vs. Uruguay:

“Going into the game we knew what type of team Uruguay was, how they played really tough and physical. We didn’t seem to be as prepared for that unfortunately. We put ourselves in a position to win but we still had to play from behind which is difficult. It came down to a last second shot at the end of the game and we weren’t able to get it. I give credit to Uruguay because they played really tough against us and didn’t give us anything easy. It was a tough game and we just have to look forward to tomorrow.”

Anthony on the upcoming game vs. Puerto Rico:

Coming against Puerto Rico we definitely have to come with a lot of energy right off the bat. They are going to have a lot of energy, they’re the home team and they haven’t lost yet in the tournament. Playing against us they have a chance to further their position in the tournament. So if we don’t’ come with a lot more energy and play our game, being able to execute and do the things that we need to do, we’ll definitely find ourselves in trouble. We just have to come out strong and continue to play them tough.

Leo Rautins – Head Coach on the game vs. Uruguay:

“We did a good job the first two games but just didn’t come out with the same intensity and focus that we needed. We didn’t match Uruguay’s intensity and had a lot of mental mistakes. We got away from what we need to do to be successful. That certainly hurt us in the ball game, especially down the end. At this point all we have to do is re-group. It’s a long tournament. As unfortunate as it is to lose this game, you have to bounce right back and continue to play.”

Rautins on upcoming game vs. Puerto Rico:

“I told the team after the game, if we won tonight what would we do tomorrow night. Bottom line is you have to come in and play every single game. Puerto Rico has played some good games, and it’s certainly a hostile environment. At the same time it’s an energy environment, a fun environment, and one that we have to find a way to win in. We are going to prepare just like every other day and go play the game.”

Rautins on Team Canada shot selection:

“There were a lot of three point shots available in the first two games. Certainly the competition was not the same as today. Uruguay was a much stronger defensive team and those shots were not as available and we took a lot of questionable shots. The timing of some of the shots was not good and those are the mental mistakes along with turnovers that we can’t afford to make if we want to be successful.”

Rautins on Canada’s energy for Puerto Rico:

We try to manage the minutes and not take anybody over the top over the four games. Everybody’s in the same situation. It’s tiring, it’s taxing, but that’s the way it is. Nobody’s feeling sorry for anybody else, and no one’s going to feel sorry for us. You know what you are going into and all you can do is try to manage the minutes and hope that everybody does what they have to do to recuperate and be ready for tomorrow night’s game.

Rautins on the lessons learned today:

Quite honestly the first two games give you a false sense of reality. I think this is a good game to toughen you up. How Uruguay plays is how a majority of these Americas teams play. They’re physical and aggressive so you have to take the positives. A game like this is going to help us get ready. One of the things we’ve talked about from day one of the summer is getting better every day. We have to learn from this game and we have to apply it to every upcoming game. The biggest positive is intensity. You have to find a way to be ready to play and handle other people’s pressure. For the most we’ve done a good job this summer so we just have to regroup on that.