Canada finished its preliminary matches with the only perfect record (5-0) on the fifth and final day of the round robin stage of Men's Wheelchair Basketball on Thursday, September 11 at the National Indoor Stadium and USTB Gymnasium.
Germany vs. Sweden 78-72 (Group A)
Forward/guard Dirk Passiwan led the German offense with 21 points, including a pair of free throws in the last seconds of the game that secured Germany's win. Germany also scored 19 second chance points. Although Sweden's guard Hussein Haidari and forwards Joachim Gustavsson and Peter Kohlstrom combined for 59 points, Sweden missed a few key shots in the fourth quarter, including one following a fast break, and thereby lost its potential advantage.
Israel vs. Great Britain 82-67 (Group B)
A 25-point effort by Simon Munn paced Great Britain past Israel. The British were guided by the impressive Jon Pollock, who scored 19 points and gave 13 assists, many of which were for Munn. The center was successful in delivering on the passes he received in the paint, and netted nine of his 12 shots. With this win, Great Britain finishes the preliminary round with a 4-1 record, including a victory over the United States and a loss to Australia.
South Africa vs. Japan 58-60 (Group A)
Japan trailed by one point with 26.5 seconds left on the clock when Hiroaki Kozai, who finished the match with nine points, received the ball close to the key and scored the winning shot. South Africa had two more chances with 11.5 seconds to play, but a bad pass by Nicholas Taylor gave the ball to Japan, and Kozai added a further point with a free throw. With still 1.6 seconds to play, South Africa captain Marius Papenfus missed a three-pointer on the buzzer. Reo Fujimoto of Japan scored a game-high 20 points and had 10 rebounds, while guard Keisuke Koretomo supported him with 15 points and four assists.
Canada vs. Iran 93-62 (Group A)
Canada took the early lead and poured on the offense to accumulate 68 points in the paint, 20 points converted from Iran's 27 turnovers, and 18 assists. Forward/guard Richard Peter was the Canadian team's top scorer with 20 points, and three of his teammates also scored in the double digits. Zakaria Hesamy Zadeh of Iran was the game's high scorer with 21 points.
Brazil vs. China 64-46 (Group B)
Brazil dominated the winless Chinese team, scoring 40 points in the paint and grabbing 42 rebounds. Guard Everaldo Lima was the Brazilian team's high scorer with 20 points, one point more than teammate and center Leandro Mirando. Mirando had the most rebounds (18) of any player in the game. Center Ding Hai of China was the top-scoring player of the game with 24 points, but inaccurate ball handling cost China 18 turnovers.
US vs. Australia 68-61 (Group B)
Trailing by six points after three quarters, Team USA pulled ahead relying on superior shooting accuracy and offense. Four US players scored in the double digits, topped by forward Steve Serio and guard Jay Nelms, who contributed 15 points each. The United States earned 19 points from Australia's 17 turnovers. Australia had nearly double the number of rebounds the US team had, but missed its last seven shots of the game. Forward Justin Eveson of Australia was the game's high scorer with 23 points.
The tournament continues on Friday, September 12 with classification games for the fifth-ranked and sixth-ranked teams in group A and group B at the National Indoor Stadium. The top four teams from group A and group B (including the United States and Australia) will play in the quarterfinals on Saturday at the National Indoor Stadium.
(BOCOG September 12, 2008)