MADRID, September 10 (EUROPA PRESS) –

The Canadian team won the bronze medal at the Basketball World Cup after surprising the United States (118-127) in overtime in the third place match, played at the Mall of Asia Arena in Manila, who consummated his failure at the World Cup. Cup event and goes home without a medal.

Led by Dillon Brooks (39 points) and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (31), the Canadian team, led by Spaniard Jordi Fernández, added its first World Cup medal in a match in which it crushed the team with triples -17 out of 37- from Steve Kerr, who once again paid dearly for his individualism and found himself without getting on the podium for the first time since the 1963-1967-1970 cycle.

The Americans attended the event with the absences “due to illness” of Jaren Jackson Jr., Paolo Banchero and Brandon Ingram, and Anthony Edwards (24 years old) had to establish himself as their top scorer, insufficient to slow down the momentum of their North American neighbors.

Thus, the team of Jordi Fernández started with an 8-0 series and took a juicy lead at the end of the first quarter (25-34), but the United States, shooting on the second unit, reduced the gap to minimize it at half-time (56 – 58).

Canada stood out again, thanks to a 7-0 start, after the restart and entered the final quarter with a nine-point lead, where Mikal Bridges managed to force overtime in a magnificent game; He made a first free throw and intentionally missed the second to collect his own rebound, drive to the three-point line and make the score 111-111 with just 0.6 seconds left. Kelly Olynyk looked for the epic with a triple that didn’t go in, and everything had to be decided in overtime.

In overtime, however, there was no color, and back-to-back baskets from Gilgeous-Alexander and Brooks – harangued by cries of “MVP, MVP” – gave Canada a definitive victory to claim its first medal in a World Cup.