Despite not medaling at the FIBA AmeriCup in Managua, Nicaragua, Canada’s Kyle Wiltjer and the Dominican Republic’s Angel Nunez showed that they are still capable of filling up the basket at an efficient level, especially from deep. Both teams won their respective groups after going 3-0: Canada in Group B and the Dominican Republic in Group C.
For Wiltjer, his country fell short in the bronze medal game against the United States of America, 90-85. The 6-10 sharpshooter had his worst performance in Nicaragua,
only contributing two points on 1-for-4 shooting from the field. The Canadians wouldn’t have reached that point in this tournament without Wiltjer’s contributions off the bench, averaging 8.7 points per game on a shooting split of 50.0 field goal percentage/38.1 three-point percentage/85.7 free throw percentage while scoring in double-figures in three of the six games. He also grabbed 3.5 rebounds per game and dished out 1.8 assists per game during that span.
The 2012 national champion with the Kentucky Wildcats and 2015 second-team All-American now moves his attention to preparing for his tenth professional season, his third with Reyer Venezia in Venice, Italy, of the Lega Basket Serie A and EuroCup.
As for Nunez, the Dominican Republic lost to the eventual FIBA AmeriCup champion Brazil in the quarterfinals, 94-82. His best performance came in the final game of group play against Nicaragua, scoring 17 points on 4-for-7 three-pointers, plus adding eight rebounds, two blocks, and a steal.
Starting his college basketball career with the Louisville Cardinals in 2011-12, Nunez then transferred to Gonzaga and played under coach Mark Few from 2013-15. He used his final season of eligibility in 2015-16 to transfer once again to the South Florida Bulls. In the professional portion of his career, Nunez will be playing with Leyma Coruña in Galicia, Spain, in the EBA League this upcoming season.
Arden Cravalho is a Gonzaga University graduate from the Bay Area… Follow him on X @a_cravalho
