Canada improves to 2-0 at men’s 3×3 basketball Olympic qualifier with win over Dutch

GRAZ, Austria — Alex Johnson had seven points and four rebounds as Canada defeated third-seed Netherlands 17-15 Friday at the men’s 3×3 basketball Olympic qualifying tournament.

Jordan Jensen-Whyte added four points and six rebounds for Canada, which improved to 2-0 at the tournament after opening with an 18-14 win over Croatia.

Steve Sir and Kyle Landry each added three points.

Dimeo van der Horst had a game-high nine points for the Dutch.

Canada, seeded 13th at the tournament, faces No. 5 Latvia and No. 20 Austria on Saturday to close out its pool games.

Latvia (2-0) leads Pool D heading into Saturday’s games with a better points-per-game average than second-place Canada. Austria (1-1) is third, followed by the Netherlands (0-2) and Croatia (0-2).

The top two teams from each pool qualify for the quarterfinals. The two finalists and the winner of the third-place game will qualify for the Olympics.

Men’s and women’s 3×3 basketball is set to make its debut at the upcoming Tokyo Olympics. Canada does not have a team participating in the women’s qualifying event.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 28, 2021.

The Canadian Press