Canadian men's wheelchair basketball team wins Parapan Am bronze to keep Paralympic hopes alive
CBC
Facing a must-win situation to keep its Paralympic dreams alive, the Canadian men's basketball team defeated Argentina 70-62 on Saturday at the Parapan American Games.
That victory in Chile means they live to fight another day when it comes to qualifying for Paris 2024.
Edmonton's Patrick Anderson scored a team-high 22 points for Canada, while Colin Higgins, from Rothesay, N.B., added 21 points and 11 assists.
With the bronze-medal victory, the Canadians have assured themselves a spot in a last-chance qualifier next April.
WATCH | Canada defeats Argentina for bronze:
"Can't really overstate how big the stakes felt today not only for us but for our whole program moving forward. We bought ourselves another life here," Anderson said.
"Still getting it done in smaller batches, I guess. Just enough today. It feels really good and a bit of relief. But it also feels like a step. When you're a good team trying to be great there are very few easy steps."
Anderson has been a leader within the program for more than two decades and was competing in his sixth Parapan Am Games at age 44.
He scored clutch points late in the game, including a deep three pointer, that sealed the victory for Canada.
"That was a tough one but we took it. And now we move onto the next one."
"We're trying to separate ourselves from the pack and establish ourselves in that upper echelon together. It's still kind of new to me and we're all trying to figure that out together. Scratch and claw to get up there with the big boys."
Relief. Celebration. And now a chance to look forward and prepare for a crucial tournament in a few months to try and earn a berth to Paris.
The gold-medal winner in Santiago earned a direct berth to the Paralympics while second and third place earned a spot in a final tournament to determine the teams at Paris 2024.
Canada will now have to place within the top-four at the last-chance qualifying tournament in Antibes, France, in mid-April.
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