Canada suffers narrow men's basketball loss before must-win game for Paralympic berth

Canada continues to make necessary adjustments while building confidence entering Monday's winner-take-all men's basketball match at a last-chance Paralympic qualifier.

With veteran Patrick Anderson on the bench, the Canadians exchanged points with Iran late in the fourth quarter Sunday before falling 75-74 on a buzzer-beater by Mohamadhassan Sayari in their final group game in Antibes, France.

Canada, with an 0-3 record, will play Italy at 10:30 a.m. ET Monday in crossover action at Azur Arena to determine which team will play in the Paralympic tournament this summer in Paris. Live streaming coverage will be available on CBCSports.ca, the CBC Sports app and CBC Gem.

Italy improved to 3-0 with a 72-63 victory over Germany later Sunday.

"That was a bit of a gut-wrenching loss there — last second, buzzer-beater, but still a lot of nice things to take away from the game today," Canada player Colin Higgins told Wheelchair Basketball Canada. "We feel like we played better today. There's been a bit of momentum in our game over the last three games, and hopefully, that carries over to a win on Monday.

"We're seeing progress, and we know that with one or two more tweaks, we can hopefully be victorious and punch our ticket on Monday."

WATCH | Full replay of Canada vs. Iran:

The eight-team repechage tournament is the final opportunity for teams who did not qualify for Paris through their zone qualifier to earn a spot at the Games in August.

Canada, which was sixth at the world championships in Dubai last year, has competed in every Paralympics in men's wheelchair basketball since 1968 and won a gold medal in 2000, 2004 and 2012.

Sunday's game was the closest outcome for Canada this week following losses to the Netherlands