Ontario to play host to two FIBA Basketball World Cup qualifying games

Ontario has been announced as a host to two FIBA Basketball World Cup qualifying games taking place this summer as Team Canada will look to lock in a spot in the 2019 tournament in China.

The two games will take place in the summer of 2018, with the first one being on Friday, June 29 against the Dominican Republic at Ricoh Coliseum in Toronto with tipoff scheduled for 8:30 pm, and the second game being on Monday, July 2 against the U.S. Virgin Islands at The Arena at TD Place in Ottawa with tipoff scheduled for 1:30 pm.

After not being available for the first two windows of games, Team Canada will have access to players from both the NBA and NCAA as well.

Canada is in Group D of qualifying with Bahamas, Dominican Republic and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Each team meets twice, once at home and once on the road and the top three teams from each group advance to the second round.

Canada opened the Americas qualifiers with a 93-69 victory over the Bahamas at the Scotiabank Centre in Halifax, they then took a loss 88-76 on the road against the Dominican Republic to end the first window of games with a 1-1 record.

The Canadians get back on the court on February 22 against the U.S. Virgin Islands then play its last game of the second window on February 25 against the Bahamas.

The 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup in China will be the biggest tournament ever held, with 32 teams playing 92 games over 16 days. This tournament for the first time as well will qualify 7 teams to play in the Olympics the following year.

For ticket information, visit www.basketball.ca.