Unbeaten Canadian men beat Puerto Rico to finish 1st in Group B at AmeriCup

After two blowout wins to open the FIBA AmeriCup men's tournament, Canada had to sweat out an 82-73 win over Puerto Rico in the final Group B game on Monday night in Managua, Nicaragua.

Both teams went into the game with 2-0 records in the four-team group, and both were guaranteed berths in the quarterfinals that tip off Thursday.

Canada, which led 36-34 at halftime and 58-57 heading into the final quarter, found itself exchanging the lead numerous times with Puerto Rico down the stretch. In fact, there were 14 lead changes in the contest.

With 90 seconds left in the final quarter Canada nursed a 73-71 lead before going on a six-point run to take a 79-71 lead with 13 seconds left on the clock.

Kyshawn George led Canada with 17 points and five rebounds, while Mfiondu Kabengele had 13 points and 10 rebounds. Trae Bell-Haynes chipped in with 11 points, while Marcus Carr had 10 points and Leonard Miller had nine points and nine rebounds.

Jose Alvarado led Puerto Rico with 20 points and five rebounds, while Gian Clavell had 19 points and seven assists. George Conditt the Fourth was the team's top rebounder with eight.

Canada finished the game with a 48 per cent shooting percentage, compared to 41 for Puerto Rico.

Canada led in rebounds (41-40), points in the paint (42-38) and points from the bench (28-19).

Puerto Rico led in steals (8-3), blocks (6-5), points off turnovers (14-7) and second-chance points (13-10).

Venezuela edged Panama 77-73 earlier on Monday to finish third in Group B with a 1-2 record. Panama finished last at 0-3.

Canada opened the tournament with an 88-54 win over Venezuela on Friday, then knocked off Panama 99-49 on Saturday.