TORONTO — Ben Moronchuk scored a game-high 38 points to go along with 12 rebounds as Canada downed Iran 68-59 on Saturday at the men's under-23 world wheelchair basketball championship.
Liam Hickey had a triple-double for the Canadians (2-1), with 14 points, 14 boards and 10 assists.
"This was a great win for the boys. We wanted to come out strong and we did," said Hickey.
"I think now we're just going to take the positives we've learned from this game and the negatives we need to focus on and bring that into the next game."
Canada led 15-8 after one quarter, but was down 35-31 at the half. The Canadians battled back to grab a one-point lead through three quarters and used a 15-2 run late in the fourth to put themselves ahead for good.
Canadian coach Darrell Nordell shortened his bench against Iran, choosing to use just one substitution. Four starters played the entire 40 minutes to earn the victory.
Mojtaba Kamali led Iran (1-2) with 23 points.
Canada's next round-robin game at the 12-nation tournament is Sunday against undefeated Turkey (3-0). The Canadians won back-to-back gold medals in 1997 and 2001, but haven't reached the podium since. Germany captured gold at the last U23 world championship in 2013 while Canada finished sixth.
The Canadian Press