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.
Canadian skip Kerri Einarson looked up Saturday and saw real people, instead of cardboard cut-outs, in the stands at Calgary's WinSport Event Centre. She heard the roar of the crowd instead of the sound of flushing toilets piercing the silence.
Aaron Judge doubled and Pete Crow-Armstrong and Brice Turang each had two hits as the United States beat Canada 5-3 on Friday night in Houston to reach the World Baseball Classic semifinals.
Canada's Natalie Wilkie captured her second biathlon gold of the Milano-Cortina Paralympics on Friday, winning the women's standing sprint pursuit for her fourth medal in as many events.
Canada made wheelchair curling history on Thursday as the first team at any Paralympics to complete round-robin play without a loss.
The winningest men's ski cross racer in history added to his total on Thursday.
Canada's Mark Arendz collected his 14th career Paralympic medal while teammate Brittany Hudak earned her fourth in Wednesday's standing cross-country skiing races at Milano Cortina.
Alphonso Davies covered his face with his shirt as he left the field with an injury in Bayern Munich's game against Atalanta in the Champions League on Tuesday in Bergamo, Italy, raising questions about the Canadian star's availability for the World Cup.
Canadian Para nordic skiing star Natalie Wilkie has now won a medal of every colour at the Milano-Cortina Paralympics, adding bronze in the women's standing sprint classic on Tuesday in Val di Fiemme.
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Canadian Para alpine skier Kalle Eriksson and guide Sierra Smith continued their impressive Paralympic debut on Monday by racing to bronze in the men's visually impaired super-G for their second medal.
Matt Dunstone won his first Canadian men's curling championship after knocking hard on the Brier's door in recent years.
Natalie Wilkie won Canada's first gold medal of the Milano-Cortina Paralympics, topping the podium in the women's standing biathlon on Sunday.