Canada romps over Lebanon to go 2-0 at FIBA World Cup
Posted August 27, 2023 7:09 am.
Canada climbed to a 2-0 record at the FIBA World Cup with a dominant 128-73 victory over Lebanon on Sunday in Jakarta, Indonesia.
Nine Canadian players finished with double digits in scoring and the team set a senior men’s national team record for points – it scored 126 against Jordan at the World Cup four years ago – while also setting a tournament record with 44 assists in a single game.
FIBA began keeping assist records in 1984.
RJ Barrett led the way with 17 points. Trae Bell-Hayes added 15 points shooting five three-pointers on six attempts and also had a team-high eight assists.
After recording 27 points in his World Cup debut, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 12 points, five rebounds and five assists in 17 minutes.
Melvin Ejim (13), Kelly Olynyk (12), Zach Edey (12), Nickeil Alexander-Walker (12), Kyle Anderson (10) and Dillon Brooks (10) were the others who scored in double figures.
Canada opened the tournament Friday with a 95-65 win over France.
Lebanon, which lost its first game 109-70 to Latvia, dropped to a 0-2 record.
Canada wraps up Group H round-robin play against Latvia on Tuesday.
