Olynyk, Canada out of men’s Olympic basketball tournament after quarterfinal loss to France

It wasn’t to be for Kelly Olynyk and Canada’s men’s basketball team as they crashed out of the Paris Olympics in the quarterfinals Tuesday.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander put up 27 points for a Canadian side that hit just 25 of 66 shots from the floor in an 82-73 loss to hosts France.

The French got 22 points from Guerschon Yabuselle and 20 from Isaia Cordinier in front of an enthusiastic crowd that cheered and jeered and jumped and drummed for much of the game.

Canada trailed from the first minute of play and couldn’t catch up to a French team that led by 16 points heading into halftime. While France boosted its advantage to 19 before the end of the third, Canada started to claw its way back into the game late in that quarter.

R.J. Barrett then brought Canada within five points midway through the fourth with a thundering dunk.

“We’ve just got to be better,” said Canada’s head coach Jordi Fernandez. “I appreciate my players’ effort. We shot free throws to cut it to one possession. Nobody can say that we didn’t fight. It wasn’t perfect, but I will always support my players.”

The Paris Olympics were the Canadian men’s basketball team’s first appearance since the 2000 Sydney Games, where they were also beaten by France in the quarterfinals.

France will face Germany in the semifinals on Thursday. The other semifinal will feature Serbia and the winner of a quarterfinal tilt between Brazil and the United States.

Tuesday’s result marked Canada’s lone loss of the tournament after it went 3-0 in preliminary round play.

Olynyk – the South Kamloops Secondary graduate who was serving as team captain – recorded with six points and eight rebounds in four outings as he came off the bench in all four of Canada’s games.

While Olynyk averaged around nine minutes a game in Paris, he only played 3:15 in Tuesday’s quarterfinal loss.

– With files from The Canadian Press