Canadian men lose first basketball qualifier to Slovenia

Canada dropped its opener at the Olympic men's basketball qualifier on Tuesday and now faces a must-win game against South Korea.

Jaka Lakovic had a game-high 19 points to lead Slovenia to an 86-70 win over the Canadians, who must beat South Korea on Wednesday in order to advance to Friday's quarter-finals.

Slovenia took control of the game in the third quarter, outscoring the Canadians 23-15.

"As a staff and as a team, we felt the effort was unacceptable," head coach Leo Rautins said on a conference call. "The way we came out to play was just extremely disappointing."

Former Toronto Raptors centre Rasho Nesterovic had 14 points and nine rebounds for Slovenia, whose record of 2-0 clinches top spot in Group C. Rowan Barrett led the Canadian team with 16 points.