Unbeaten Canadian men's basketball team tops Argentina in World Cup qualifier

Lu Dort celebrated his first game in Quebec City by scoring 25 points, and his Atlanta Hawks' teammate Nickeil Alexander-Walker added 26 to lead Canada to an impressive 97-92 victory over Argentina in FIBA men's basketball World Cup 2027 Americas Qualifier action on Monday night.

More than 13,000 fans watched the action inside the Videotron Centre.

Canada, fifth in the FIBA world rankings, is undefeated in eight games, and will play Uruguay in the South American country on Nov. 26 before their rematch in Argentina three days later.

The top three teams in the two remaining America groups will qualify for the 2027 FIBA World Cup in Qatar, while the best fourth-place finisher will also qualify for a trip to Doha.

Lost in the game was the superb performance of Argentina's Nicolas Laprovittola who scored 31 points. The only other Argentina player in double digits scoring was Nicolas Brussino with 11 points.

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However, the evening belonged to Dort. The Montreal native scored the first points of the game with a three-pointer that got the crowd going. In fact, Canada held a 13-6 lead early in the first quarter but Argentina fought back, then outscored the Canadians 13-1 in a span of two minutes and 17 seconds in the first quarter. The eighth-ranked Argentina led 29-23 after the first quarter.

The South American team even took a 17-point lead 95 seconds into the second quarter, when they stormed ahead 40-23. They took advantage of having Dort sitting on the bench after being in foul trouble. All that changed shortly before the