Nathan Yu and the Canadian men's basketball team have scored the biggest upset of the world university games tournament.
They knocked off the defending champions from Serbia 70-67 Sunday in Shenzhen, China to improve to 2-0.
"I honestly think the CIS moving to the FIBA rules a couple of years ago has made our Canadian kids that much faster and able to handle this type of game," said Canadian head coach Kevin Hanson. "We could tell that we were wearing them down, Serbia wanted to play in the half court and use their size, and we didn't let them.
"I'm proud of the guys for this win, but that being said, this isn't a double-elimination tournament, we still have games to play to get out of our pool, but this gets us that much closer."
Warren Ward and Tyson Hinz scored 14 points apiece while Michael Lieffers collected 13 to lead the Canadians. Canada went on a 12-4 run in the third quarter and Lieffers was the catalyst during that stretch, scoring six points in the quarter. Yu, who grew up in Prince George and played for the Duchess Park Condors, hit an 18-foot jump shot late in the quarter to give Canada its first lead, 48-47, and they held it the rest of the way.
Yu father Simon is in Shenzhen and in an email to The Citizen offered his comments about his 21-year-old son's play as the starting point guard for Canada.
"Nate didn't have a good offensive game, but his overall calm leadership style on the court throughout the game, especially during those very tense moments at the end of the fourth quarter, plus his unbelievable defence tonight helped Team Canada to achieve this very special win," Simon said.
"Team Canada shocked the basketball world tonight and our P.G boy was very much a part of it. Canada is now in an excellent position to advance to the elite-eight semifinal round."
Canada plays Australia next on Wednesday and will close out the round-robin Thursday against Hong Kong.
Canada shot 47 per cent from the field Sunday and forced 25 turnovers. Serbia shot 67 per cent from the field in the first but only hit on 1-of-13 three-point attempts in the second half.
Yu scored 11 points in Saturday in Canada's 85-75 in overtime over Turkey. Canada fought back from an eight-point deficit with five minutes left to force the extra session. Yu, Canada's co-captain, came through at a crucial moment when he picked up a steal and fed the ball to Hinz, who made the shot and later tied the game 73-73 on a free throw with 24 seconds left, as Canada closed out a 13-5 run.
"Nathan had an amazing 10 minutes of play towards the end of the game," said Simon Yu, "He sat a lot during the first three quarters due to his personal foul problem. I think that Ukraine ref was not used to his style of aggressive defence.
"He did most of his scoring [nine points] in the second half, an old habit of his, only to pick things up when it is really needed. He also had a few high-quality assists as well."
Ward scored Canada''s first eight points in OT as the Canadians showcased their quickness and conditioning, running at Turkey from the opening whistle. Ward scored the first six points, while Canada held its rivals to just two points, both on free throws, to close out the win.
-- with files from The Canadian Press
