Czechmate: Canadian men’s basketball team misses out on Olympic qualification | CBC Sports

The loss is a heart-breaking blow to a Canadian men’s basketball program that had high-hopes this team and this moment would set the program onto a different path. 

Having not played since Wednesday, it took the Canadian team the majority of the first quarter to find their rhythm. The Czechs opened up a 15-6 lead less than four minutes into the game, forcing head coach Nick Nurse to take a timeout to regroup. 

Canada immediately went on an 8-0 run to get back within one point, forcing the Czechs to take a timeout. 

By the time the buzzer sounded to finish the first quarter, the Czech Republic found themselves leading Canada by just two points, 29-27. 

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The two teams traded buckets for most of the second quarter before the Czechs knocked down back-to-back threes late with 3:44 left before halftime.

Nurse called a timeout trying to stop the Czech Republic momentum. 

But the size and experience by the Czechs proved to be too much early in the game — Czech Republic took a 52-44 lead into halftime. 

The Czech Republic built up a 13-point lead in the third quarter but Canada refused to quit. Down nine with 44 seconds to go Canada fought back to force OT. 

In a wild finish, it was the Czechs who ultimately kept their Olympic dream alive—going up by two in the dying seconds while Canada’s last-ditched effort heartbreakingly circled the rim before bouncing out. 

The Czechs now await the winner of the second semifinal between Greece and Turkey. The championship game goes Sunday night at 7pm ET on CBC TV. 

Only the winner gets the ticket to the Tokyo Olympics.

More to come.