Milton, Oshawa stars combine to help Canada beat China at FIBA U19s in Hungary

The defending bronze medalists from the 2021 FIBA U19 Worlds earned a huge bounce back win over China Sunday in Debrecen, Hungary to even their record at 1-1 and give them a chance at a repeat medal.

The seventh-ranked Canadians, who won a historic gold medal at the 2017 competition and the bronze two years ago, were thrashed 83-56 Saturday by world #2 and European U18 champs Spain and needed to win Sunday ahead of Tuesday’s showdown with fourth-ranked France.

“We knew we had to be resilient. We knew we had to throw [the loss to Spain] away and figure out how to get a win and split, then put everything on the line vs. France — today’s response was everything and the guys responded perfectly,” said Canadian coach Patrick Tatham. “The mission was to compete with purpose on a bounce back night and the guys did it to a T.”

Milton’s Michael Nwoko scored 18 against Spain and added 16 points vs China, one of five Canucks to score in double digits Sunday.

One of those was Oshawa’s Elijah Fisher, who scored 14 points and added seven rebounds. Fisher is second in scoring (to Nwoko) and rebounds and leads Canada in assists after the first two games.

Canada took control against China in the second quarter, closing with a 12-2 run to take a 13-point lead at the break.

Canada has taken two of three against France at the U19 Worlds since 2009. France is also 1-1 after losing by 19 Sunday to Spain. Tip-off Tuesday is 6:30 am ET.