U18 Men defeat Dominican Republic to improve to 2-0 at FIBA Americas

VALDIVIA, CHILE - The U18 Men's National Team continues to build momentum at the 2016 FIBA Americas U18 Men's Championship with an 87-74 win over the Dominican Republic on Wednesday.

Canada's starting five included Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, O'Shae Brissett, Josip Vrankic, Nickeil Walker and Lindell Wigginton Click here for full team roster.

Brissett had a double-double with 23 points and 12 rebounds, while Walker added 19 points and Jahvon Henry-Blair scored 14 off the bench for Canada, which improves to 2-0 and remains atop the Group A standings.

Canada concludes its round-robin schedule against Brazil on Thursday, and can clinch first place in the group with a win.

"On a day where we struggled finishing and shooting, it is always nice to grind out a win,â? says Roy Rana, head coach of Canada Basketball's U18 Men's Team. "These tournaments are never easy, but our preparation for a big game against Brazil starts now."

The D.R.'s Lionel Figueroa led his team with 22 points. For game boxscore click here .

Canada fell behind 4-0 after consecutive buckets by Figueroa in the opening minute, but scored 12 unanswered points in a span of 2:36 to take a 12-4 lead midway through the first quarter. The score favoured Canada 20-12 after 10 minutes.

The Dominicans battled back in the second period, pulling within three points of Canada, 24-21, at the 5:25 mark, before the Canadians exploded with a 17-6 run. Brissett, who had nine points in the quarter, beat the buzzer with a three-pointer to put Team Canada ahead 41-27 at halftime.

The break didn't slow down Team Canada, which dominated the first few minutes of the second half to take a 60-38 lead. However the D.R. would again prove resilient, out-scoring Canada 17-9 over the final 4:10 of the third quarter to make it 69-55. The Canadians maintained a double-digit lead throughout the fourth quarter.