Canada saw-off Italy 79-60 to win their first ever FIBA U19 World Cup in Cairo, Egypt on Sunday.
After making shockwaves across world basketball less than 24 hours earlier by toppling the heavily fancied USA in the semi-finals, Canada carried on with the momentum in the finale.
R.J. Barrett scored 18 points and pulled down 12 rebounds as he earned tournament MVP awards.
The #FIBAU19 2017 MVP Award offered by Tissot goes to @RjBarrett6 of @CanBball 🇨🇦! Congratulations Champ 👏👏👏 pic.twitter.com/J0NBIrDUUu
— FIBA #Basketball (@FIBA) July 9, 2017
The Canadians, who had never played for a medal at this tournament, started the game slow but opened a gap with a 12-0 run in the first quarter and went into the half-time break with a sizable 51-36 lead.
Canada never looked back as the lead ballooned to 21 points after three quarters en route to a historic first ever world title.
USA claimed the bronze by beating Spain 96-72 earlier in the day.
