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Canada's men's wheelchair basketball team narrowly edges Netherlands in friendly

The Canadian men's wheelchair basketball squad defeated the Netherlands 57-56 in a friendly match in Toronto on Saturday to conclude its preparation ahead of the Americas Cup. (wheelchairbasketball.ca - image credit)
The Canadian men's wheelchair basketball squad defeated the Netherlands 57-56 in a friendly match in Toronto on Saturday to conclude its preparation ahead of the Americas Cup. (wheelchairbasketball.ca - image credit)

Canada's men's wheelchair basketball team squeezed out a 57-56 win over the Netherlands in a friendly at the Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre on Saturday.

The game was tightly contested throughout, as both sides finished the second quarter tied at 33 and the third tied at 44 heading into a tough final frame.

Canada had lost to the Netherlands in three other friendlies prior to Saturday, falling 73-67 on Wednesday, 72-41 on Thursday and 65-58 on Friday.

"We needed the win for team morale," Regina native Nik Goncin told Wheelchair Basketball Canada. "Arguably, there's no better competition than the Netherlands. They finished first in Europe, so we got the best team to come play us.

"Everybody gave it something today, so feeling pretty good. It's different when it is one or two guys, but when it's 12, it felt like a team win today."

The feature game concluded a six-day camp as the Canadian team prepares for the Americas Cup, held in Sao Paulo, Brazil, from July 13-18

"The games against the Dutch will provide our team with excellent competition as we look to fine-tune aspects of our game before the tournament in Brazil," Wheelchair Basketball Canada's high performance director, Jeff Dunbrack said on Monday according to Wheelchair Basketball Canada.

The top four teams in the tournament will qualify for the world championships set to take place in Dubai from November 16-27.

WATCH l Men's Wheelchair Basketball Feature Game: Canada vs Netherlands: