CAN - Thompson, Nicholson shine in second win

TORONTO (FIBA Americas Championship/FIBA Basketball World Cup) - Tristan Thompson showed everyone what he'll bring to the table for Canada at the FIBA Americas Championship by leading the national side to its second straight win over Jamaica at the weekend.

The Cleveland Cavaliers forward had 16 points and 10 rebounds as Jay Triano's side saw off the terrific challenge of Jamaica and prevailed in the second game of the Jack Donohue International Classic, 77-72.

The front-court pairing of Thompson and Orlando Magic forward Andrew Nicholson showed a lot of promise, with the latter contributing 13 points.

Thompson was thrilled to compete alongside Nicholson, with the players bringing different things to the Canada team.

"Andrew is definitely a pick and pop big; for me, I’m definitely going to eat up space in the middle so we’re playing off each other very well," Thompson said.

"Me and Andrew are the front court of the future, so we’ve got to learn to play together and complement each other and play well.”

Levon Kendall shined again for Canada. The Spain-based pro had seven rebounds and two assists to go with his five points in less than 13 minutes.

Patrick Ewing Jr had a game-high 20 points in defeat for the Caribbean side.

Triano was excited to see his players in action again.

They had beaten Jamaica in the first Donohue Classic encounter, 81-72.

"It’s great to play games," Triano said.

"We said coming in that our goals were to be competitive, play against somebody else and see what we can do and also have this be a tryout so we could get everybody in the games so we could get a chance to evaluate our players and evaluate where we are."

Triano must now whittle down his squad for Caracas, where the FIBA Americas Championship will tip off 30 August.

Canada will play in Group A with Uruguay, Puerto Rico, Brazil and Jamaica.

The top four sides at the event in Venezuela will qualify for the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup.

"It’s going to be difficult to make cuts but we’re trying to convince our guys, if you’re not on the team this year, it doesn’t mean you’re not with Canada Basketball," Triano said.

"We have a pool of players."

FIBA