Detroit Pistons forward Kelly Olynyk scored 18 points in just 17 minutes of action, while Kevin Pangos added 17 and the Canadiens, the only undefeated team in the Americas zone, improved to 8-0 and booked their spot at the 2023 FIBA World. Cup.
Melvin Ejim added 15 points, Zach Edey had 15 points and seven rebounds and Kassius Robertson finished with 11.
Jhivvan Jameel Jackson Melendez had 16 points to lead Panama. Eric Alexander Romero James chipped in with 10 points.
Canada took the floor on Monday already one step closer to qualifying thanks to Venezuela’s 76-72 win over the Dominican Republic earlier in the evening. The Canadians then needed both wins over Panama and the Bahamas to upset Argentina late in the game. While they beat Panama, the Bahamas couldn’t beat Argentina, losing 95-77.
The Canadians are coming off a 99-87 win over Argentina on Thursday in Victoria, their toughest ranking test yet.
They established their dominance early Monday, going on a 16-0 run before Panama finally got on the board with 5:56 to play in the first quarter. Canada’s stifling defense held Panama to 3-for-16 shooting, and forced five turnovers. The Canadians led 33-7 in the second.
It counts differential scores in FIBA tiebreakers, so there was no overtime from Canada in the second quarter. Pangos’ 3-pointer with 50 seconds left before the break gave the Canadians a 42-point lead.
Edward Lopez’s buzzer-beater from beyond half court gave the Panamanian fans at Arena Roberto Duran something to cheer about and cut Canada’s lead to 64-25 at halftime.
The Canadians continued to build their lead and led 92-36 with a quarter to play.
Coach Nick Nurse was able to go deep on his bench for much of the second half as young players like 20-year-old Edey, a 7-foot-1 forward from Purdue, got significant playing time.
The Canadians dominated across the board, forcing 20 Panama turnovers. They outrebounded the hosts 50-34, shot 56.7 percent from the field to Panama’s 34.1 percent.
Canada was without three NBA players on Monday: Oklahoma City guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who was Canada’s best player in the three games he played this summer, Utah Jazz guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Detroit Pistons guard Cory Joseph. They were replaced by Trae Bell-Haines, Abu Kigab and Jean Victory Moukama.
Monday’s game was the last time Nurse had NBA players at his disposal, as the final two qualifying windows are in the middle of the NBA season, Nov. 7-15, 2022, and Feb. 20-28, 2023. T coach in those windows, as he will be busy with the Toronto Raptors.
The top three in each of Groups E and F, and the first in fourth place, will qualify for the 2023 FIBA World Cup with 32 teams from August 25 to September 10, 2023, in the Philippines, Japan and Indonesia.
The World Cup is a direct qualifier for the 2024 Olympics in Paris. Four final Olympic spots will also be determined in last-chance qualifiers, something Canada is looking to avoid after the team’s heartbreaking elimination by the Czech Republic in a last-chance qualifier in 2021 in Victoria.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published on August 29, 2022.
