Men's Basketball Southern Conference

WCU Men's Basketball Falls to Canadian National Team, 105-64, In Final Game of Tour

Toronto, Ontario - The Western Carolina men's basketball team wrapped up its 12-day playing tour today with a game versus the Canadian National Team in the Air Canada Center, home of the Toronto Raptors. Despite 35 points from junior guard Kevin Martin, the Catamounts fell 105-64 to the Canadians, who used the game as a final tune-up before heading to Puerto Rico from Aug. 20-31 for the Olympic qualification tournament.

Western Carolina finished its tour with a 4-1 record, defeating the London Orion (a professional team in Canada), Carleton University (a school that won the Canadian National Collegiate championship), the University of Ottawa and an All-Star team from Montreal.

"We learned more from this game than we did in any of the previous four," said WCU head coach Steve Shurina. "And, we learned what we need to do to be the best. This tour has been tremendous. We played good competition and several players were able to gain much needed confidence. Another thing we learned from today, though, is you can not rest on your laurels."

Western battled foul trouble throughout, being whistled for 13 fouls in the first half, compared to just one on the Canadian team. Overall, the Canadians, 40-of-48 at the line, attempted 37 more free throws than the Catamounts (10-of-11). Catamounts Corey Muirhead, Jared Outing and Rans Brempong saw limited action due to foul trouble. Sophomore David Berghoefer, who has played a key role in WCU's success, suffered a "stinger" and had his playing time limited as well.

"Regardless of the foul situation, the Canadian team is obviously superior," Shurina said. "They are one of the better teams in the world and wore us down physically. I am glad we got this opportunity to play them and learn from them."

NBA All-Star Steve Nash scored 10 points with eight assists and three rebounds. WCU sophomore point guard James Johnson, who squared off with Nash most of the game, had five points, six assists and three rebounds.

"The Canadian National team is very strong, physical and mature," Shurina said. "They are a team who will be fighting for their Olympic lives later this month. They have been together for the past three-to-four months practicing and playing two-to-three times a day and it shows. They went up 20 early. We played pretty even with them in the second quarter. We came out and cut the lead to 16 after halftime. They called a timeout and we never got any closer."

The Canadian team, with ages ranging from 20-35 years old, not only features Nash, but also has Denham Brown, who plays at Connecticut; Greg Newton, a former Duke center; and Rowan Barrett, who played at St. John's and for the Canadian Olympic team in 2000. The Canadian team will look to be one of three teams that will qualify for the 2004 Olympics. Among the teams joining Canada in the qualifying tournament will be the United States, Venezuela, host Puerto Rico and Brazil.

The Catamounts will stop in New York City on their way back to Cullowhee. Among their many scheduled activities will be touring of the Statue of Liberty and the Empire State Building and going on a Ride-Along with the New York City Police.