Canada race past Australia, France too much for Argentina in warm-ups

AUCH (2016 FIBA U17 World Championship) - Canada eased past Australia while France blew out Argentina on the second day action of a warm-up tournament for the 2016 FIBA U17 World Championship. 

Canada took control of the game in the second quarter in picking up an 88-53 victory over Australia  in Auch, France. Stefan Smith scored 16 points while Grant Shepard tallied 13 points, Danilo Djuicic had 12 and Emanuel Miller added 10 points. 

Canada, who lost to France in overtime a day earlier, were still without one of their top players as Simi Shittu is still not with the team in Europe.

The test game had extra intrigue as the two teams will face off on the first day at the U17 Worlds in a hugely-important game in Group C. 

Australia came into the Auch tournament having played  a number of warm-up games but they struggled with the athleticism and speed of the Canadians, committing 24 turnovers and allowing 18 Canada offensive rebounds.

Kody Stattmann was the only Australian player in double figures with 10 points though Patrick Bines had 9 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists. 

The other game in Auch saw France pull away from Argentina early with a 30-14 lead after 10 minutes and cruise to a 90-57 victory.

Jaylen Hoard poured in 19 points, Eddy Kayouloud and Maxime Abah both scored 13 points and Ivan Fevrier had 12 points for the French, who also got 10 rebounds from Timothee Bazille. 

Argentina were still with centre talent Francisco Caffaro while Lautaro Lopez and Nicolas Franco both scored 16 points for the South Americans.

There is still one more day of games in Auch with Canada facing Argentina and France taking on Australia.

Australia and Canada are both in Group C with China and Finland while France will be playing in Group D with Bosnia and Herzegovina, Dominican Republic and Korea. Argentina have been drawn into Group B with Lithuania, Mali and Spain.

FIBA