Canada survives Senegal to make FIBA OQT semis

MANILA, Philippines – Canada was able to withstand a late-game rally by Senegal and pull away with a 58-55 victory to move to 2-0 and advance to the semifinals of the FIBA Manila Olympic Qualifying tournament on Wednesday, July 6, at the Mall of Asia Arena.

After topping Group A, the Canadian national team will face the second placers of Group B in the semis for a chance to make the finals where the team will play for a ticket to the 2016 Rio Olympics.

Cory Joseph once again led Canada with 13 points and 5 rebounds while Tyler Ennis and Melvin Ejim finished with 12 and 11 points, respectively.

Senegal, which was playing its first game of the tourney, was led by the 16 points of Maurice Ndour who also had 10 boards and 6 blocks.

The Senegal national team failed to take a 56-55 lead after Clevin Hannah missed on a triple with 21 seconds left. Canada left the door open for overtime after Joseph split his final visit to the foul line, but another missed 3-ball by Hannah as time expired sealed his team’s defeat. – Rappler.com