Canada secured its inaugural FIBA Basketball World Cup medal by defeating the second-ranked United States 127-118 in an overtime thriller at Manila’s Mall of Asia Arena on Sunday.
The third place game went into overtime in dramatic fashion with the USA down 111-107 with 4.2 seconds remaining in regulation and forward Mikal Bridges at the free throw line.
Bridges made the first free throw attempt but intentionally missed the second one. He then chased the loose ball down and drained a corner three falling down to tie the contest with less than a second left. Canada’s Kelly Olynyk missed a long three at the end of regulation but it was no matter; Canada went on to outscore the US 16-7 in overtime.
Dillon Brooks led the way for Canada with 39 points, the most points scored by a player in a medal-winning game in tournament history, according to Reuters. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander added 31 points to help World No. 15 Canada claim the bronze medal.
“I’m really proud of Dillon,” Canada’s coach Jordi Fernandez said, according to the tournament’s website. “This is how it looks when they let Dillon play. It’s not just on the defensive end that he’s the best perimeter defender in the World Cup, offensively he’s been extremely efficient. Not just in this game.”
Anthony Edwards had 24 points to lead the Americans. Austin Reaves added 23 points and Bridges finished with 19 points and nine rebounds.
After finishing seventh in 2019, USA failed to reach the podium in consecutive World Cups for the first time since 1963, 1967 and 1970. The US was seeking its fifth bronze medal and 13th overall podium finish, but conceded the most points in a World Cup game in the team’s history, according to Reuters.
In the final, world No. 11 Germany, competing in a final for the first time, defeated No. 6 Serbia 83-77 to win its first World Cup title.
Dennis Schröder led the Germans with 28 points and the 29-year-old point guard was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player. Franz Wagner added 19 points.
Aleksa Avramovic scored 21 points and Bogdan Bogdanovic had 17 points for the Serbians.
CNN
