Redmen mentor leads Canada to fifth place at U-17 world basketball championship
KAUNAS, Lithuania -- Canada defeated Argentina 84-79 on Sunday, to finish fifth of 12 men's teams at the FIBA Under-17 world basketball championship in Lithuania.
The Canadian cadets, coached by McGill bench boss David DeAveiro, posted an overall record of 5-3 at the event. They were led by a 26-point, seven rebound performance from Kevin Zabo of Gatineau, Que., in their final game. He was one of four players to score in double-digits, along with Patrick Steeves (14) of Montreal, Tanveer Bhullar (12) of North York, Ont., and Marial Shayok (12) of Ottawa.
Canada led 32-22 after one quarter, 44-41 at the half and 66-57after three quarters.
They opened the tourney with a 69-63 overtime win over Lithuania (June 29), followed by a 66-53 loss to Croatia (June 30), an 80-76 win over Argentina (July 1), an 83-62 loss to Spain (July 3) and an 82-61 victory over Korea (July 4). In the playoff round, the Canadian squad dropped a 113-59 decision to the USA (July 6) and an 88-84 conquest over China (July 7) before registering their second straight win over Argentina.
Prior to the FIBA championship, DeAveiro also guided the team to a 2-2 record at the 26th world Douai exhibition tourney in France with a 99-76 win over China (June 21), a 68-63 loss to France (June 22), a 92-81 setback to Egypt (June 23) and an 88-74 victory over Egypt.
DeAveiro, a 47-year-old native of Toronto, recently completed his second season behind the McGill bench, where he has posted a 32-37 record overall, including a 20-12 mark in regular season play.
He has also served as an assistant coach with Canada Basketball on numerous occasions, including the men's junior and senior national teams. Among his stints as an assistant coach was with Jay Triano's staff on the national hoops squad at the 2011 Pan Am Games in Mexico, a 2003 pre-Olympic tourney in China, the 2007 FISU Summer Games in Bangkok where Canada won bronze, the 2008 FIBA Americas under-18 championship in Argentina and the 2009 FIBA world junior championship in New Zealand.
DeAveiro also served as a guest coach to Leo Rautins at a national senior team training camp in 2010.
SOURCE:
Earl Zukerman
McGill Athletics & Recreation
514-398-7012