Canada falls to Venezuela in WCup qualifying hours after landing in Caracas

CARACAS, Venezuela – Canada suffered a setback in its bid to qualify for the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup on Friday, dropping an 84-76 decision to Venezuela hours after landing in Caracas due to a lengthy travel delay.

Kyle Wiltjer led Canada with a game-high 21 points on 8-of-18 shooting, while Phil Scrubb and Brady Heslip added 16 and 14, respectively. Joel Anthony hauled in 10 rebounds and chipped in 11 points.

“Incredibly proud of our guys as we battled through incredible adversity just to make the game,” said Canadian coach Roy Rana.

What was intended to be a nine-hour travel day Thursday from Orlando to Caracas turned into a 25-hour trek, thanks to a 10-hour delay at the Miami airport, including four hours stuck on the tarmac. The Canadians didn’t arrive in Venezuela until Friday morning.

“We all understand this is not a one-game qualification, but part of a larger process. On to the next and we’ll continue to battle for our country,” Rana said.

Venezuela (8-1) took sole possession of qualifying Group F with the win. Canada fell to second place at 7-2, but is still a strong contender to advance with two of its final three qualifying games at home.

Jose Vargas paced Venezuela with 15 points on 6-of-13 shooting and 2 of 4 on three-pointers. Venezuela had five other scorers in double digits, including: Dwight Lewis (14), Gregory Vargas (13), Jhornan Zamora (12), as well as Gregory Echenique and Nestor Colmenares both with 10.

Canada went into halftime deadlocked with Venezuela at 37 points apiece, but they were outscored 47-39 across the final two quarters.

Canada, which no longer has NBA players at its disposal for qualifying games, heads to Sao Paolo to face Brazil on Dec. 3. It will play its final two contests at Mile One Centre in St. John’s, N.L., on Feb. 21 versus Chile and Feb. 24 against Venezuela.

At the culmination of the second round, the three highest-placed teams from each group, and the top fourth-placed team between Group E and Group F qualify for the FIBA Basketball World Cup in China, Aug. 31-Sept. 15.