Michigan incoming freshman Caleb Houstan scored 17 points to help Team Canada win the bronze medal at the FIBA U19 World Cup July 11 with a 101-92 victory over Serbia in Latvia. Canada medaled for only the second time in history at the event.
Serbia rallied in the second quarter to take a four-point lead, 54-50, heading into halftime, and led by as many as 11 in the third quarter before Canada rallied to tie it at 74 at the end of the third. A pair of runs, 10-2 and 11-0 over the last 12 minutes, helped the Canadians pull away.
Houstan scored 17 points in the win.
Houstan led Team Canada with 17.0 points per game in seven contests with six double-figure scoring games, including a pair of 20-plus point performances: 25 in a win over Spain (July 9) and 23 against the United States (July 10). He was second on the squad with 5.7 rebounds a game, while posting 17 assists (2.4 per game) and 16 steals (2.3 per game) in his seven starts.
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In the marquee game of the tournament, a contest against the United States, Canada trailed the US at the break, 49-38, and fell short despite outscoring the Americans 48-43 in the second half. Houstan's score a game-high 23 in the 92-86 loss.
Before reaching the bronze medal game, Team Canada opened its World Cup winning Group A thanks to wins over Lithuania (80-71; July 3), Japan (100-75; July 4) and Senegal (85-56; July 6), a game in which Houstan posted a 15-point, 10-rebound double-double.
Canada advanced to the quarterfinals with an 86-56 win over Puerto Rico (July 7), setting up a showdown with Spain. With a game-high 25 points from Houstan, Canada held off Spain, 81-77, for its first-ever win against the Spaniards, advancing to the medal round.
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