Mamadou Gueye banked in a three-point buzzer-beater to move Canada into the gold-medal game at the Commonwealth Games with a wild 88-86 win over New Zealand on Saturday.
Justus Alleyn of the University of Manitoba delivered the game-winning assist after a Canadian timeout with five seconds remaining.
B次元官网网址淚t was a bit of a scramble. ThatB次元官网网址檚 not the play we drew up but the ball fell to me and I was confident as soon as the ball left my hands,B次元官网网址� said Gueye, who plays for the University of Alberta.
The dramatic win guarantees Canada its first medal in menB次元官网网址檚 basketball at the Commonwealth Games and a date Sunday with host Australia. Canada did not enter a team at the Melbourne Games in 2006, the only other time basketball was on the program.
In the womenB次元官网网址檚 bronze-medal game, New Zealand beat Canada 74-58. Ceejay Nofuente led the Canadians with 18 points. Australia won the womenB次元官网网址檚 gold 99-55 over England.
Australia thrashed Scotland 103-46 in the other menB次元官网网址檚 semifinal. The Boomers beat Canada 95-55 in the first game of the tournament for both sides. Canada also lost 82-60 to New Zealand in the preliminary round.
RyersonB次元官网网址檚 Ammanuel Diressa led Canada with 22 points, while UBCB次元官网网址檚 Conor Morgan added 19 and CarletonB次元官网网址檚 Munis Tutu contributed 17 points and a team-high six assists.
Canada led 45-42 and 75-58 going into the final quarter. But thanks to a 10-0 run, the Tall Blacks took the lead 85-83 with a little more than a minute to play. After a Diressa layup tied the score once again, New ZealandB次元官网网址檚 Shea Ili made one of two free throws.
B次元官网网址淚t was one of those ones where I thought we played phenomenal three quarters of basketball,B次元官网网址� said Canada head coach Kirby Schepp, whose day job is coaching the University of Manitoba. B次元官网网址淕ive all the credit to New Zealand. Those are maybe the toughest guys IB次元官网网址檝e maybe ever seen. They are just tough, tough guys. Battled, battled, battled. And we basically just survived their fight at the end.B次元官网网址�
Canada fielded an all U Sports roster at the games.
B次元官网网址淏eing an international game for our guys who are somewhere between 18 and 23, at that level, against that quality of team B次元官网网址� And now we have a chance to play Australia, in Australia, for gold. Priceless opportunity,B次元官网网址� said Schepp.
The Canadian Press
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