Canada’s men will play for wheelchair basketball bronze in Paris.
The Canadians fell 80-43 against the reigning champion U.S. on Thursday at Bercy Arena, ending their bid for a first Paralympic victory since 2012.
Instead, Canada will be forced to regroup in time for the third-place game on Saturday at 10 a.m. ET against Germany. The U.S. will face Great Britain for gold later in the day.
Patrick Anderson once again led Canada with 16 points to go with six rebounds and five assists, while Garrett Ostepchuk was the only other Canadian to score in double digits with 10 points.
American Brian Bell led all scorers with 31 points.
Canada, the definitive pre-game underdogs, got off to a strong start against the Americans, taking leads of 8-2 and 16-10 in the first quarter.
But the U.S. began to open things up with a 25-point second quarter to take a 13-point advantage into halftime. And the second half proved much less competitive than the first as Canada managed just 11 points total in the blowout loss.
From 2000 through 2012, Canada won three gold medals and one silver. But the team tumbled all the way to 11th at Rio 2016 and placed fifth at Tokyo 2020.
Now, it’s hoping to return to the podium for the first time in over a decade.
The Canadian women’s team hits the court Friday at 3:30 p.m. ET to take on the Netherlands in their semifinals.