Canada pulls out an 87-65 win over a very hungry Angola team of the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup.

Danilo Djuricic shot the lights out for Canada going 5/8 from three-point land. His shooting combined with Abu Kigab’s hustle secured the win for the Junior Boys.

Game Recap

Djuricic has been improving every game in the tournament and this was by far his best performance. He started the game red hot, hitting four threes including nine of Canada’s first 14 points.

Djuricic wasn’t the only one making outside shots. The Harvard University commit’s hot hand was contagious for the rest of Team Canada. Kigab and Rowan Barrett Jr. also made three combined three pointers in the first quarter.

Canada was clicking on all cylinders offensively, scoring 30 points at the end of the first, but their soft defense let them down.

Angola was given too much space and they started making their open looks to close out the first quarter down only 30-23.

The second quarter was the worst quarter for Canada in the tournament. Their offense completely stalled and they allowed for Angola to sprint out in transition and use their athleticism to score in bunches.

Canada only put up four points in the first five minutes of the quarter because of careless turnovers and missing decent looks.

Canada didn’t stop the ball, which led to Angola’s high flyers to punish the rim and eventually take the lead.

Down three with ten seconds left in the half, Kigab got the pass from Barrett. He had a defender all over him so he pump faked to get his defender in the air. In order to get the shot off in time Kigab hat to shoot off balance, and with two seconds left the clutch three pointer dropped and salvaged a 42-42 tie going into half.

Halftime adjustments were really the key to a dominant third quarter and entire second half.

Canada started defending straight from the inbound. Putting a full court press cancelled out Angola’s ability to get out and run.

Instead it was the Junior Boys who came out running the floor, pushing the ball up the court and creating quick offence.

High quality and efficient offense always gives you an easier time defensively. Having Angola in only half court situations takes away a lot of what they do well. Canada pushed out on their shooters and forced them into tough shots.

Djuricic continued his hot shooting and was also able to cut to the lane and make easy lay-ups.

The U19 Canadians outscored Angola 22-8 in the third quarter and put them in a great position to close the game out in the fourth.

Canada didn’t let off the gas in the fourth quarter and closed the game well to have strong momentum heading in the Quarter Finals.

Barrett makes getting to the basket and finishing around defenders effortless. He got the job done for Canada in the fourth along with Kigab’s monster performance.

Kigab secured his second straight double-double. The Oregon commit hustles for every loose ball and rebound and he can score in a variety of ways.

Lindell Wigginton cooled off from his performance against Japan but he still grabbed nine boards and help push the momentum in the third quarter.

Canada’s high free throw percentage was a welcome sight especially if this will be continue through the rest of the tournament. As a team they shot 78% from the line.

 Top Performers

Danilo Djuricic: 22 points | 3 rebounds | 2 assists | 1 steal | 1 block

Rowan Barrett Jr.: 18 points | 7 rebounds | 4 assists | 1 steal

Abu Kigab: 17 points | 16 rebounds | 2 assists | 1 steal

Lindell Wigginton: 13 points | 9 rebounds | 6 assists | 1 steal

Prince Oduro: 9 points | 5 rebounds | 1 steal

 

Up Next

Canada is moving on to the Quarter Final and with play France. That game is set for July 7 with the time still to be determined. The Junior Boys will have the day off tomorrow to get their minds and bodies ready for the final push.