Aaron Best made a three-pointer 15-seconds into the game, and Canada never looked back en route to a 96-51 win over Nicaragua in 2025 FIBA AmeriCup Qualifying action at the Meridian Centre Friday night.
Head Coach Nate Bjorkgren said in a post-game media scrum that it was great to play in front of a passionate, loud crowd in St. Catharines.
Best led the way for the Canadian side with a game-high 21 points, while former Niagara River Lions Phil Scrubb and Trae Bell-Haynes had 13 and 8 points respectively.
Trae Bell-Haynes. Photo: FIBA
Bell-Haynes, who is familiar with the region having played for the River Lions in 2019 and 2021, said in an interview before the game on Thursday that this match up will show the rest of Canada how great of a market Niagara is for basketball.
From here, both teams will now travel to Nicaragua for the second half of their qualifying games against one another. Canada’s group for the 2025 AmeriCup Qualifiers includes Nicaragua, Mexico and Dominican Republic. The top three teams in each group (12 in total) will qualify for the FIBA Men’s AmeriCup 2025.
Attendance at the Meridian Centre was 3821.
(Written by: Matt Latour)
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