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Summer Universiade (Aug 13): Team Canada daily recap (#2)
SHENZHEN, China (CIS) – On the first full day of competition at the 26h Summer Universiade, the men’s basketball team highlighted Team Canada action with an thrilling overtime win in its tournament opener, Saturday morning.
Warren Ward, a guard from London, Ont., scored his team’s first eight points in extra time, while the undersized Canadian squad flashed its speed and resiliency to down Turkey (0-1) 85-75 in Pool B.
Trailing 68-60 with five minutes remaining in the fourth
quarter, Canada closed out regulation with a 13-to-5 run, using a
Tyson Hinz free throw with 24 seconds left to tie the game at
73-73.
In OT, the Canadians showcased their quickness and conditioning, running at Turkey from the opening whistle. Ward scored the first six points, while Canada held its rivals to just two points, both on free throws, to close out the win.
“We went small ball in overtime, they were playing a zone and we went with our more offensive players to attack it, and it paid off,” said Team Canada head coach Kevin Hanson. “Warren has the ability to turn it on offensively and we needed someone to do that in overtime. He was getting stops in transition, he was getting offensive rebounds, and making plays off the dribble, he was just outstanding.”
Ward, a University of Ottawa student, finished with 15 points, shooting 7-for-16 from the field, while Carleton University’s Cole Hobin of Ashton, Ont., led all Canadians with 16 and added 10 rebounds for a double-double. Hinz, the 2010-11 CIS MVP from Ottawa, added 15 points, while UBC’s Nathan Yu of Prince George, B.C., also reached double figures, scoring 11.
The Canadian men’s basketball team (1-0) is back in action on Sunday night, when they face defending world university games champion Serbia at 8:30 p.m. local time (8:30 a.m. ET). The Serbians (1-0) defeated Australia 72–67 on Saturday.
In men’s volleyball, Canada (1-0) got off to a successful start in Pool A play, downing Switzerland (1-1) 3-1 (25-13, 16-25, 25-17, 25-10) in its first of four preliminary round matches. Spencer Leske of Lacombe, Alta., and Karl De Granpré of Pierreville, Que., paced the winners with 11 kills apiece. The Canadians are back in action on Sunday when they battle crowd favourite China (1-1) at 8 p.m. local time (8 a.m. ET).
In beach volleyball’s long awaited Universiade debut, the pair of Simon Fecteau-Boutin of Lévis, Que., and Cameron Wheelan of Barrie, Ont., got off to a perfect start with a 21-19, 21-17 win over Germany 2, followed by a 21-12, 21-11 victory over Costa Rica 2. François-Guy Allaire of Notre-Dame-du-Laus, Que., and Michael Plantingua of Langley, B.C., struggled in scorching heat however and lost in straight sets to both USA 1 (19-21, 11-21) and Russia 2 (13-21, 8-21).
Fecteau-Boutin and Wheelan will play for first place in pool C on Sunday when they face Indonesia (2-0) at 1 p.m. local time (1 a.m. ET). Allaire and Plantingua will try to avoid an 0-3 finish in pool H when they battle Thailand 1 (1-1) at 3 p.m.
In women’s soccer, Canada (1-1) lost 1-0 to the host team from China (2-0) in front of nearly 40,000 homegrown fans in their second of three Pool A matches. The Canadians will face Taiwan (0-1-1) on Monday at 7:30 p.m. local time (7:30 a.m. ET) and can advance into the quarter-finals of the tournament with a win.
In the Universiade debut of open water swimming, Xavier Desharnais of Sherbrooke, Que., was Canada’s top performer, finishing in 10th place of the men’s event in a time of 2:03:31.10. Teammate Aimeson King of Toronto finished two spots behind (2:04:31.28). On the women’s side, Nadine Williams of Sherwood Park, Alta., placed 17th overall (2:14:52.47), while Béatrice Pineau of Boischatel, Que., was 19th (2:19:13.69).
On the first day of the table tennis tournament, Canada was no match for the host Chinese, losing all three duels in the men’s team event by identical 3-0 scores. Pierre-Luc Hinse of Gatineau, Que., fell to An Yan 11-4, 11-5, 11-8, while teammate Todd Gregory from Charlottetown, P.E.I., was swept by Bo Fang 11-8, 11-4, 11-6. In the doubles match, Hinse teamed with Ling Kun Than of Laval, Que., falling 3-0 to Fang and Kun Shang 11-4, 11-7, 11-7.
-CIS-
