MAR DEL PLATA, Argentina - Andy Rautins scored 15 points on Thursday as Canada edged the Dominican Republic 73-72 at the FIBA Olympic Americas qualifying tournament. All of Rautins points came from three-pointers as he went 5-for-8 from beyond the arc. He was not awarded any free throws. He also pulled down two rebounds. Carl English had 12 points, two assists and three rebounds for Canada, which improved to 1-1 at the tournament. Joel Anthony led the team with 10 rebounds while scoring eight points. Jevohn Shepherd had 10 points and three rebounds off the bench while Cory Joseph had six points and four assists. "It was a great team win today. Our depth showed and its going to carry over for the rest of the tournament," Shepherd said. Jack Martinez led the Dominican Republic with 21 points and 16 rebounds. Al Horford had 17 points, 11 rebounds and three assists, while Francisco Garcia had 12 points and two assists. The Dominican Republic out-rebounded Canada 45-38. Canada got out to a quick 19-11 lead in the first quarter, but was tied with the Dominican Republic 30-30 by half. In the third, Canada out-played the Dominicans, outscoring them 21-14. The Canadians then withstood a fourth quarter rally to win the game. "I thought it was another very good defensive effort for us," Canadian coach Leo Rautins said. "But were still not playing 40 minutes of basketball, which is obviously our goal. To be a good team here you have to play 40 minutes." Canada will play Cuba on Friday. While Leo Rautins said having an early win at the tournament takes some of the pressure off, Canada still needs to play its remaining two round robin games with urgency. "You certainly wouldnt want to go into the end praying or looking for (a win) .., but on the flipside you cant relax. You need every win you can get here," he said. Rautins said he will be looking for improved play down the stretch as late lapses hurt Canada in its first two games. 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For a player that was looked upon derisively by Raptors fans only 11 weeks ago, his turnaround (as a result of his strong play all summer) has been as swift as has been thorough. Its hard to encounter anyone who has watched Valanciunas this summer who has not come away impressed by the ultra-aggressive seven-footer.Got a question on rule clarification, comments on rule enforcements or some memorable NHL stories? Kerry wants to answer your emails at cmonref@tsn.ca. Hi Kerry, I enjoy reading your column - hope you keep it up! In the final seconds of the third period of the Winnipeg/Montreal game, Brendan Gallagher looked like he was attempting to get back on-side. However, as he was starting to skate back, Al Montoya, Zach Bogosian and Jacob Trouba blatantly interfered with his progress. If the referee wasnt around, I would have thought that he just missed it. However, this all enfolded in front of a referee. It seemed the ref either purposely wanted the game to be over, sadistically wanted Gallagher to get roughed up, or favoured the Jets to win! Please explain why it wasnt a penalty and what (if any) you would have done differently. Regards, Lee Hi Lee: I can assure you that none of the three assertions you made were even remotely part of the referees mindset or affected his ultimate decision not to assess a penalty against the Jets. Instead, Brendan Gallagher engaged in a losing battle of will with the referee when he attempted to draw a penalty by embellishing the contact with Zach Bogosian (twice) and Al Montoya. Once a referee suspects a player is guilty of embellishing he does not want to be fooled into calling a weak penalty as a result of any theatrical performance. The battle lines were pretty much drawn at that point when Jacob Trouba came off the Winnipeg bench on a change with Tobias Enstrom. Troubas most direct route to assume his right defense position from the Jets bench placed him on a collision course with Gallagher, who had just picked himself up off the ice after turning on Bogosians stick, reaching his hand to the rafters and doing a reverse fall onto his back! No penalty call was forthcoming at that point. I would have judged the encounters with Bogosian and Montoya no differently than the referee, based on the embellishment that was first initiated by Gallagher behind the Jets net. The next obvious question you will ask is if the referee deemed there was embellishment, then why not assess offsetting penalties? With under a minute to play and the puck dumped down the icce most referees would prefer to let the minor skirmish quickly play itself out and not affect the manpower on the ice when there was no immediate and direct bearing on the play.dddddddddddd That changed in my judgment however, once Jacob Trouba knocked Gallagher to the ice with a slightly buried shoulder and stick placed across the body of the Canadiens pin-ball forward. With the puck in the neutral zone Trouba needed to give way to Gallagher and pass behind the Montreal player to allow him unimpeded exit from the Jets end zone no differently than forward giving way to a D-man backing up at the blue line. That contact by Trouba was deserving of an interference penalty. The previous embellishments clearly witnessed by the referee would certainly cause some doubt as to the legitimacy of any foul committed against Brendan Gallagher so the refs arm remained down. I ask you to watch the play as objectively as possible and freeze-frame the action at key moments during the battles that took place. You should see Gallaghers hands initiate contact with Bogosian behind the net and the changing body posture of both players throughout the engagement. The final shove by Bogosian should not have caused the net to be pushed in an excessively tipped forward position by Gallagher. During and immediately following each player confrontation Brendan Gallagher made direct eye contact with the referee, including verbal appeals for a penalty call. It became a failed mission. Brendan Gallagher had a much more direct route available to him to exit the Jets end zone. He chose a path that ultimately led him into contact with Al Montoya and deep within the goal crease. Following the Montoya elbow push, Gallagher threw his head back excessively and immediately looked at the referee this time and on two more subsequent occasions hoping to see a raised arm. Gallaghers unnatural fall and look back at the ref after tripping over Bogosians stick completed the trifecta! Players that embellish on a consistent basis run the risk of not receiving the benefit of the doubt when they are legitimately fouled. Brendan Gallagher is too effective and too good a player to develop that unwanted reputation from the refs. cheap jerseys cheap nfl jerseys ' ' '