It came down to the wire, but the under-23 Canadian men walked away from Toronto Metropolitan University’s Mattamy Athletic Centre on Thursday with their first win of Globl Jam 2025, keeping their gold medal hopes alive in the process with a 65-62 win over Georgetown.
“Our goal was to try to be the toughest team, and last night we didn’t feel we were the toughest team. Today, no doubt we were the toughest team,” said Canada head coach Dave Smart.
”I thought we threw the first punch, and I thought we dictated on the ball. In general, we were physical in the right way; they didn’t come off ball screens comfortably, we were physical out on the ball and off the ball, and it just makes a huge difference.”
Canada started the game running in transition and pushing the pace, something they had done against Brazil early, but didn’t maintain throughout all four quarters on Wednesday.
The Canadian’s offensive production early came off second-chance points, with Elias Ralph and Michael Nwoko grabbing offensive rebounds and putting them back in. This was a bright spot for the team against Brazil as well, winning that battle 19-7.
Nwoko, after playing less than 13 minutes yesterday, continued to make an impact in the first quarter with his athleticism. First, the LSU Tiger soared through the sky to spike a ball out of bounds, before throwing down a massive alley-oop later in the quarter. He would finish the game with a team-high 12 points.
TJ Hurley, like Nwoko, didn’t get much run in game one, playing less than six minutes, but he made his presence felt in the first quarter and throughout the game as a whole. The Vermont senior would hit back-to-back long bombs towards the end of the frame to tie things up, forcing Georgetown coach Ed Cooley to call a late timeout.
By the end of the opening frame, it would be the Canadians holding the lead 19-17 after trailing for most of the quarter.
To begin the second, Georgetown, who are representing the USA, would come out firing from range. Caleb Williams and Isaiah Abraham hit back-to-back threes and started the quarter on a 9-2 run to take a 26-21 lead. The rest of the frame, however, would be back-and-forth, with movement stagnating offensively from both sides.
The Americans would hold a five-to-seven-point lead for most of the quarter, then, Xaivian Lee joined the party. After his team-high 16 points against Brazil, the 21-year-old would hit a quick trigger trey off the catch out of the corner before hitting a step back triple off a screen later.
”The game slows down with him when he has the ball, and he doesn’t get sped up that often,” said Smart.
“The last two teams we played are decently fast, and he didn’t get sped up and made good plays. It’s tough on a point guard, six practices is nothing, it’s probably tougher for him offensively than it is for anybody, and he’s done incredibly well.”
Georgetown’s DeShawn Harris-Smith would cap off his six-point half at the end of the second quarter with a nice bucket; however, as the Hoyas would take a 40-37 advantage into the break.
The third quarter would start with both teams stepping up defensively, with a bucket not coming until three minutes in when Georgetown’s Williams canned a triple. Then, Aden Holloway, who was inserted into the starting lineup for Vasean Allette to start the half, responded with a 3-pointer of his own on the ensuing possession.
Hurley would then continue to make plays. The 6-foot-5 shooting guard nailed a pull-up two, then snatched a steal on the next defensive possession, before knocking down a catch-and-shoot triple later in the frame. He would finish with 11 points after finishing with over 30 minutes played off the bench.
The Canadians would continue to battle and eventually would take their first lead since the first quarter off a pair of Holloway free throws, making it 50-48.
At the end of the frame, however, Georgetown’s Jeremiah Williams hit a contested layup and tied everything up at 52, heading into the final frame.
The fourth quarter as a whole was a highly contested defensive slog, as the physicality increased. Only 23 points combined were scored in the entire frame, with the real only offensive highlight coming from Canadian centre Enoch Boakye booming over an American defender at the rim.
The game would ultimately have nine lead changes, but Canada would ultimately win thanks to a Lee floater and a Vasean Allette layup in the dying moments.
Looking forward, the Canadians will need to win against Japan on Saturday to keep their gold medal dream alive, but they will need some help. If Brazil can defeat Georgetown and Canada defeats Japan, it will set up a rematch from the tournament opener between Brazil and Canada for first place.
Key performers:
Canada
Michael Nwoko, 12 points, five rebounds, and one block.
Xaivian Lee, 11 points, seven assists, three rebounds, and two steals.
TJ Hurley, 11 points, three rebounds, one steal, and one block.
Aden Holloway, eight points, four assists, and three rebounds.
USA
Malik Mack, 14 points, 11 assists, five rebounds, and one steal.
DeShawn Harris-Smith, 11 points, eight rebounds, and two assists.
Caleb Williams, eight points, five rebounds, one assist, and one steal.
