DOORNEKAMP LEADS CANADA TO 2010 WORLD MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP BERTH
Canada will join Argentina, Brazil and Puerto Rico next summer in Turkey.
"I told our guys, 'You haven't failed over the past few years ... you haven't been ready,"' said head coach Leo Rautins. "In 2007, we weren't ready. In 2005, we weren't ready. Last year, at the wild card [Olympic] qualifier, we weren't ready.
"When you look at this tournament, we're the youngest team by a couple of years. The fact that these guys can overcome that, and come together as a group, I'm really proud of them."
Jermaine Anderson led Canada with 21 points, Carl English had 13, Jesse Young 11 and Levon Kendall 10 with 11 rebounds. Aaron Doornekamp, a member of the 2008-09 CIS champion Carleton Ravens, scored eight points but made two big baskets that were key in the Canadian win.
"It's beyond words," Anderson told the Toronto Star. "We finally accomplished something as a group."
The game was close from start to finish. The Dominican Republic led 16-13 after the first quarter, led by Charlie Villanueva's seven points.
In the second quarter, Luis Flores and Carlos Morban led the Dominicans to a 35-30 halftime lead. Morban had eight points while for Canada, Young had seven and Anderson and English netted five each.
Rautins said he was encouraged by his team's first-half defence and knew it was only a matter of time before the shots started falling.
"We had good looks," said Rautins. "Quite honestly, we didn't have great movement. I wasn't worried whether we were gonna get a shot, it was a question of (using) our movement to get better shots.
"I honestly felt during the course of the game, whether we got down or we got up, there was a sense of calm with this team. Whatever was going to happen on the floor was OK, we were going to get through it."
English made two straight three-pointers in the third quarter to give Canada a 56-51 lead but the "Road Warriors" were never able to pull away as the Dominicans came back and ended the first 30 minutes tied at 56.
Late free throws seal Canadian win
In the final quarter, Canada had some big baskets from long range, especially by Rautins, Anderson -- who completed a four-point play -- and Doornekamp who got Canada up by four (76-72) with 1:26 left.
Joel Anthony made two free throws with 19.2 seconds left to give Canada a 78-74 lead but Al Horford dunked on an offensive rebound to cut the lead to two. Kendall was fouled with 13.9 seconds left but injured his nose, so Rautins made both free throws to secure the huge win for Team Canada.
Canada hasn't qualified for a FIBA World Championship since 2002 when they finished 13th. The Dominicans have missed the FIBA World Championship since 1978.
Flores and Villanueva had 17 points each for the Dominicans and Horford finished with 14 points and 14 rebounds.
Rautins hopes the win will silence critics of the Canadian basketball program.
"These guys have taken a lot of crap," he said. "They've been crapped on, they've been ignored, they've been put down. Unfairly so, because the people who have criticized them are really not aware of what we're up against in the world of basketball.
"To see these guys achieve this, honestly, it's as satisfying a feeling as I can imagine having. It's tremendous."
Canada will meet Brazil in Saturday's semifinals (6:30 p.m. ET).
Visit www.basketball.ca for more information.
Source: Basketball Canada