Anthony, Scrubbs headline Canada’s basketball team for two games in St. John’s

TORONTO — Two-time NBA champion Joel Anthony, and brothers Phil and Thomas Scrubb headline Canada’s team for its final qualifying games for this summer’s FIBA World Cup.

Canada, which has already qualified for the World Cup, hosts Chile on Feb. 21, and Venezuela on Feb. 24, at the Mile One Centre in St. John’s, N.L.

“Looking forward to finishing our windows process strong,” said head coach Roy Rana. “Honoured that our group continues to make an incredible sacrifice to represent our country in international competition.”

With the complicated qualifying procedure for the World Cup, Canada has been forced to use a revolving door of rosters throughout the process, with numerous players travelling from pro clubs overseas to help Canada qualify.

Rana said they’ve “been the backbone and foundation of our qualification into the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019. I hope we celebrate and show our appreciation for them in St. John’s.”

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Canada sits second in Group F with a 8-2 record. Following a 84-76 loss in Venezuela, the Canadians bounced back to beat world No. 12 Brazil 94-67 in Sao Paolo to clinch their first World Cup berth since 2010.

The World Cup, Aug. 31 to Sept. 15 in China, features a record 32 teams and is the main qualifier for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. 

Roster:

Joel Anthony, Montreal, San Lorenzo Basket (Argentina); Aaron Best, Toronto, Riesen Ludwigsburg (Germany); Melvin Ejim, Toronto, Unics Kazan (Russia); Brady Heslip, Burlington, Ont., Istanbul BBSK (Turkey); Kaza Kajami-Keane, Ajax, Ont., Landstede Zwolle (Netherlands); Kyle Landry, Calgary, Buducnost (Montenegro); Conor Morgan, Victoria, B.C., Divina Seguros Joventut (Spain); Mychal Mulder, Toronto, Windy City Bulls (G League); Adika Peter-McNeilly, Toronto, Mitteldeutscher BC (Germany); Phil Scrubb, Richmond, B.C., Zenit Saint Petersburg (Russia); Thomas Scrubb, Richmond, B.C., Openjobmetis Varese (Italy); Kyle Wiltjer, Portland, Or., Unicaja Malaga (Spain).

The Canadian Press