Canada has never won a medal in a Basketball World Cup. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is obviously looking to change that, and his team sent a strong message from the first day of the tournament.

Gilgeous-Alexander scored 27 points and Canada beat France 95-65 in a Group H match in Jakarta, Indonesia, on Friday. On the first day of the tournament which also takes place in the Philippines and Japan, Canada outscored France 25-8 in the third quarter to open the game which began the half with a three-point deficit.

Gilgeous-Alexander scored 13 points in the third quarter and also finished with 13 rebounds and six assists. Kelly Olynyk added 18 points for Canada.

Evan Fournier scored 19 of his 21 points in the first half for France, which had won its previous three games against Canada in the World Cup.

Group D.

MONTENEGRO 91, MEXICO 71

Montenegro has had a good start to the World Cup led by Nikola Vucevic.

Vucevic finished with 27 points and 10 rebounds in just 31 minutes, and Montenegro beat Mexico 91-71 in Group D on the opening day of the World Cup that began with matches in the Philippines, Indonesia and in Japan.

Vucevic was 11 of 15 from the field, including three of three from 3-point range. Kendrick Perry scored 16 points and Nikola Ivanovic added 14 for Montenegro.

Pako Cruz scored 16 points for Mexico, while Joshua Ibarra finished with 13, Fabian James 12 and Paul Stoll contributed 10 points and seven assists.

Montenegro’s next match is against Egypt on Sunday, while Mexico faces Lithuania.

LITHUANIA 93, EGYPT 67

In Manila, Margiris Normantas scored 18 points in 18 minutes and Lithuania began its participation with a comfortable victory.

Jonas Valanciunas finished with 15 points and 10 rebounds, while Elmantas Bendizius scored 10 points for a Lithuanian team that beat Egypt 53-34.

Assem Marel contributed 14 points for Egypt, while Amr El Gendy finished with 13, Anas Mahmoud added 11 and Ehab Amin 10.

GROUP A

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC 87, PHILIPPINES 81

In Manila, Karl-Anthony Towns finished with 26 points and 10 rebounds and the Dominican Republic won on a night where Filipino fans set a Basketball World Cup attendance record.

A total of 38,115 spectators attended the match, surpassing the mark of 32,616 spectators from the 1994 tournament final in Toronto, where the United States beat Russia for the title.

Víctor Liz contributed 18 points to the winners.

Jordan Clarkson led the Philippines with 28 points. June Mar Fajardo added 16.

ITALY 81, ANGOLA 67

In Manila, Simone Fontecchio scored 19 points and Italy won in the final 12 minutes to hold off a spirited Angola team.

Stefano Tonut scored 18 points for Italy, Giampaolo Ricci added 12 and Marco Spissu had seven assists.

Childe Dundao scored 19 points for Angola, which led by seven points and tied the score at 52 late in the third period. Bruno Fernando contributed 13 points to the African team.

Both teams had problems from long range. Angola made 4 of 30 three-pointers – Dundao made 4 of 8, while his teammates combined for 0 of 22 – while Italy made just 5 of 31 three-pointers.

Italy faces the Dominican Republic on Sunday, while Angola faces the Philippines.

GROUP E

AUSTRALIA 98, FINLAND 72

In Okinawa, Patty Mills scored 25 points and Olympic bronze medalists Australia beat Finland in the final 23 minutes of both teams’ opener.

Josh Giddey flirted with a triple double by finishing with 14 points, nine rebounds and eight assists for the Australian team, which received 13 points from Joe Ingles and 10 from Dante Exum.

Finland led 38-30 with 3:33 left in the first half, but Australia won 68-34 the rest of the game.

Lauri Markkanen, current NBA Most Improved Player, led Finland with 19 points and eight rebounds. Markkanen was on mandatory military service until shortly before the start of the tournament.

Australia will face Germany on Sunday and Finland will face Japan.

GERMANY 81, JAPAN 63

In Okinawa, Mortiz Wagner scored 25 points and grabbed nine rebounds to help Germany take an early lead and lead 53-31 at halftime in the tournament opener for both teams.

Dennis Schroder contributed 14 points and Daniel Theis had 13 for Germany. Moritz’s brother, Franz Wagner, finished with 10 points.

Yuta Watanabe led Japan with 20 points and Yudai Baba added 15 to give Japanese fans some joy.

GROUP H

LATVIA 109, LEBANON 70

In Jakarta, Dairis Bertans scored 20 points, including six on seven three-point attempts, and Latvia comfortably beat Lebanon in its World Cup opener.

Rolands Smits contributed 17 points for Latvia, which led by 10 midway through the first quarter and continued to widen the gap.

Davis Bertans, of the Oklahoma City Thunder and the only NBA player for either team, scored 10 points off the bench. Sergio El Darwich contributed 19 points for Lebanon, while former NBA player Omari Spellman added 18.

Latvia made 18 of 35 three-pointers, while Lebanon made only 7 of 24 three-pointers.

Latvia will face France on Sunday, while Lebanon will face Canada.