Canada remains undefeated with win over Dominican Republic in FIBA World Cup qualifiers
Four players score in double figures in Canada victory
Kyle Wiltjer scored 15 points and Canada defeated the Dominican Republic 85-79 Saturday in FIBA World Cup qualifying.
Wiltjer was one of four Canadians to score in double figures.
Phil Scrubb had 14 points, Kaza Kajami-Keane scored 13 and Kassius Robertson added 10.
Making the World Cup is an important first step in reaching the 2024 Paris Games. A good part of Olympic qualification is directly tied to World Cup results.
Victor Liz scored a game-high 29 points for the Dominican Republic, which managed to keep things close through most of the game.
Canada came away with the win against the home Dominican side despite a massive disparity in free throws.
WATCH | Canada bests Dominican Republic at FIBA World Cup qualifiers:
The Dominican Republic took 44 free throws to only 16 from the Canadians. But the Dominicans made just 54.5 per cent of their attempts.
"It's not easy out there," said Canadian coach Nate Bjorkgren. "We talked about it before the game that we want to play through the hits. We might not get every whistle, but we've just got to keep our composure and keep playing and go to the rim like you're not going to get the whistle and finish it anyway.
"I thought our guys did a great job with that."
Canada shot the ball well, hitting 52.5 per cent of its attempts from the field.
And while the Dominicans weren't too efficient shooting from the floor, they kept coming, cutting the lead down to six on multiple occasions. That didn't seem to impact the veteran Canadian group much at all.
The Canadian roster in Santo Domingo didn't feature any of the nation's NBA stars, although it did have some players who appeared briefly in the NBA such as Wiltjer and Kyle Alexander.
Canadian guard Kenny Chery was a late scratch in health and safety protocols.
Canada improved to 3-0 in qualifying and remains first in Group C of the Americas qualifiers.
The top three teams in each of the four groups advance to the next phase of qualifying.
The Canadian men's basketball team hasn't reached an Olympic Games since 2000.
Canada will next play the U.S. Virgin Islands Sunday as the second qualifying window wraps up ahead of the World Cup in 2023.
