Canada holds off U.S. to win bronze at men's Basketball World Cup in OT

Dillon Brooks went from receiving boos earlier in the tournament to hearing MVP chants. And he thanked his haters after a scintillating performance.

Brooks had a game-high 39 points in leading Canada to its first-ever medal at the FIBA Men's Basketball World Cup with a 127-118 overtime win over the U.S. in the bronze-medal game on Sunday in Manila, Philippines.

The Mississauga, Ont., native's output set a Canadian single-game scoring record for most points in a FIBA World Cup, topping Carl Ridd's mark of 37 in 1954. He went 7-of-8 from three-point range and 12-of-18 overall from the field.

"I just appreciate you," Brooks said at the post-game press conference. "From the beginning, everyone that was throwing shots on [X, formerly known as Twitter], Instagram, watching me play but it just helps me get better each and every day."

"Just happy to be able to put this jersey on," he said when asked about his performance and the game. "I missed a couple of qualifiers and windows and I'm just happy to be here with my teammates, and represent my country, for the Canadians out there."

Canada improved to 2-21 all-time against the U.S. in FIBA senior men's competitions. The lone previous win came at a FIBA Americas event in 2005, a game that wasn't loaded with big-name NBA players. This one was, Canada having seven on its roster and the U.S. having all 12 of its players hail from the league.

But three of those U.S. players — Brandon Ingram, Paolo Banchero and Jaren Jackson Jr. — missed the game with illness. Anthony Edwards led the Americans (5-3) with 24 points, Austin Reaves scored 23 and Bridges had 19 for the U.S.

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Canada head coach Jordi Fernandez was quick to praise Brooks for his work.

"Really proud of Dillon, this is how it looks like when they let Dillon Brooks play," he said. "And it's not just on the defensive end. With Lu [Dort], he's the best perimeter defender in the World Cup."

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 31 points, six rebounds and a game-high 12 assists for Canada, with RJ Barrett adding another 23 points and seven rebounds.

The medal is also Canada's first on either the World Cup or Olympic stage since 1936 when Canada earned silver at the Berlin Games. That final was played outside, in a rainstorm, on a clay court that probably would have been better served that day as a slip-and-slide.

"The medal means a lot to the guys, the program, the board, the country, everybody, coaches," Fernandez said. "I think that an accomplishment like this, you don't know what it is until you do it.

"What you went through together for all these days and wins and losses and the emotions, it's just very different. They will never know, we are the only ones that know. All these relations that we've built are gonna stay there forever."