Canada loses semifinal to U.S. at Americas Cup wheelchair basketball tournament

Team Canada's shot at a berth in the gold-medal final came up about a quarter short at the IWBF Americas Cup on Tuesday In Bogota, Colombia.

The national senior men's wheelchair basketball team dropped a 70-57 semifinal decision to the United States, and will now have to refocus on a bronze-medal game with host Colombia on Wednesday.

Canada led 15-14 after the first quarter, but the Americans were ahead 32-28 at halftime and 49-43 entering the final quarter.

Colin Higgins led Canada with 20 points and 11 rebounds, while Reed De'Aeth had 17 points and seven rebounds. Canada outrebounded the Americans 43-34.

Jorge Salazar led the Americans with 13 points, while Paul Schulte, Kesean Paire and Jeromie Meyer scored 12 points each. The U.S. will play Argentina in Wednesday's gold-medal game. Argentina edged Colombia 59-55 in the semifinals.

The Americas Cup is a qualification tournament for the 2026 IWBF Wheelchair Basketball World Championship that will take place in Ottawa, from Sept. 9-19. Argentina, the United States and Colombia have secured their qualification for Ottawa 2026 with victories in Monday's quarterfinals.

The fourth- and fifth-place teams in Bogota will advance to the Repechage.

As host nation, Canada has already qualified for the 2026 World Championship.