HAMBURG (FIBA U17 World Championship) - After a day's rest, Spain and Canada tipped things off on the fourth day of the 2010 FIBA U17 World Championship with the Canadians winning 79-72.

The Spaniards had a tough time in the first half, hitting just 11 of their 40 field goal attempts.

The score was tied at 18 to end the opening period but Canada defended well inside and forced Daniel Diez de la Faya and his team-mates to make shots from beyond the arc. Their strategy worked well as the Europeans had just three makes out of 17 tries at the break, and went in trailing 41-30.

Kevin Pangos was taking care of the offensive side of things for Canada and had 13 points to go along with five assists by halftime.

But the Spaniards came out firing in the third quarter and a 16-3 run saw them edge in front, 46-44. Olivier Hanlan stopped the rot when he buried a three-pointer to put Canada back on top.

The Canadians would go on a drought early in the final frame as they turned the ball over. Their first field goal of the period came on a Pangos lay-up with just over six minutes left to play to get within six, 63-57.

With two minutes remaining, Pangos then found Dyshawn Pierre for a two-hand dunk before Jaime Fernandez made a lay-up. Duane Notice drove to the hoop on the next trip down the court to put Canada up 71-70.

Finally, Pangos fed a team-mate for an easy two and Notice hit a pair from the free-throw line to seal things for Canada.

Quotes:

Diego Ocampo, Spain head coach: "We played a hard game. We had too many turnovers in the second half that gave Canada easy breaks.“

Roy Rana, Canada head coach: "This has not been an easy game for us. It is a huge win for our country. With Anthony Bennett being benched due to injury in the second half we had several other players to step up – which they did. It was a bench win.“

FIBA / JB