Brazil captures gold in men's basketball at Pan Am Games; Canada takes silver
Brazil captured gold in men's basketball on Saturday at the Pan Am Games in Toronto with a convincing 86-71 win over Canada, the silver medalist.
The Canadians were thoroughly dominated throughout, displaying obvious fatigue following a hard-fought overtime win in the semifinals against the U.S. on Friday.
Canada made a run late, cutting a 25-point lead to just seven in the fourth quarter, before Brazil pulled away.
Minnesota Timberwolves forward Anthony Bennett, a former No. 1 overall NBA pick, led the way for Canada with 18 points and nine rebounds, while Kentucky commit Jamal Murray - who hit the game-winner against the Americans - chipped in 12 points on 3-of-12 shooting.
Andrew Nicholson of the Orlando Magic finished with 11 points, despite not being around to help Canada late in the game.
Nicholson with another off-ball foul; then a tech and now gets ejected. Big flaw in his game right now.
— Michael Grange (@michaelgrange) July 25, 2015
Brazil displayed a well-rounded offensive attack, with Augusto Lima, Larry Taylor, and Rafael Hettsheimeir dropping 13 points apiece. The team also hit a smoldering 53 percent of its field-goal attempts, while Canada couldn't hit one-third of its shots, finishing at 32 percent.
Canada's senior men's squad earned its first medal at a Pan Am games; it was Brazil's sixth gold.