Men’s Wheelchair Basketball suffers loss to Brazil at U23 Worlds

THAILAND – Team Canada dropped the ball 59-39 in their opening game against Brazil at the men’s under-23 wheelchair basketball championship on Wednesday in Thailand. 

The team fell behind 5-0 in the first but worked hard in retaliation to make it a two-point game, heading into the second quarter, 11-9. Brazil had a strong second and held a 28-15 lead at the break.

They then out-scored Canada 16-10 in the third and held a 44-25 lead into the fourth. 

Team Canada head coach Darrell Nordell believes nerves were a factor. 

“Hopefully, we got our first game jitters out,” said Nordell.

“I knew we were in tough already coming into this tournament, not getting the reps we typically get leading into tournaments. We missed early shots inside; we missed our foul shots and our layups.”

Nordell said the team will be prepared for their next game.

“We need to make our decisions quicker and faster – that goes with our reads, and our passing has to be better,” said Nordell.

Team Canada will hit the court next against Spain on Friday, September 9^th.