Canada takes aim at men's basketball World Cup medal after chippy win over Slovenia

Canada's last podium appearance at a major senior basketball tournament was in 1986, a bronze at the women's World Cup.

You have to go back 50 years before that, to the 1936 Olympics, for the men's team's last medal — silver after a 19-8 loss to the U.S. amid a rainstorm in Nazi Germany.

But with one more win at the 2023 men's World Cup, those droughts will be over.

Canada beat Slovenia 100-89 in the quarterfinals in Manila on Wednesday, guaranteeing it will play for a medal for the first time ever at this tournament. The Canadians will next meet Serbia, which crushed Lithuania on Tuesday, with a spot in the championship game on the line on Friday.

The other semifinal pits the U.S. against Germany, which beat Latvia 81-79 earlier on Wednesday.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of Hamilton, Ont., led a high-powered Canadian scoring attack with 31 points, to go with 10 rebounds and seven assists.

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