TORONTO (2015 Parapan American Games) - The only real surprise in Toronto during the men's wheelchair basketball competition was the relative ease with which the United States dominated Canada in winning the gold medal final of the 2015 Parapan American Games.

A predominantly home crowd of about 4,000 in the Ryerson University Athletic Centre didn't help as the USA men won handily 62-39 leading from wire to wire in the game which was televised nationally in Canada and live-streamed by the IPC.

By just making the final, both teams qualified for next year's Paralympic wheelchair basketball competition in Rio de Janiero.

The USA go in as winners of the Americas Zone with Canada taking the spot earned for the region by the American's second-place finish in last year's IWBF World Championships in Korea. No other team from the zone finished in the top seven which cost the Americas another spot out of the 12 teams that will make up the Paralympic field.

While the two finalists were expected to be there, and both did so with relative ease, the one-sided unfolding of the match was no one's prediction, especially after a women's gold medal game between the two rivals that was not decided until the final minute.

The lead contenders to derail the predicted American/Canadian ticket on the men's side were Argentina and Brazil who met in the bronze medal match with Argentina winning 72-47. Further outside were Colombia, a participant in the London 2012 tournament. They would defeat Mexico for 5th place 75-73. Way on the outside looking in were Puerto Rico and winless Venezuela who would finish 7th and 8th.

In the Semi-Final, Argentina jumped ahead of the Americans 7-4 but that was the extent of their potential as the USA stepped up defensive pressure, surging to a 15-point half-time margin, then pushing the lead to 28 before it ended 59-36.

Brazil pushed Canada early in the other Semi-Final, leading by three after the first quarter but 20 second half points by David Eng (28 total) saw the home team close out the game 70-54.

The men's Gold Medal Game was highly anticipated, especially following a raucous women's Final the night before.

Both teams had easily dispatched  the teams - Argentina and Brazil respectively - which had played their opponents close in the first round in the semifinals. Though the top scoring team of the tournament, no American was listed in the top 10 of individual scorers while Canada had three going into the knockout rounds.

With multiple scoring threats, the USA were also extremely effective, hitting 54 percent of their shots while holding opponents to 36 percent through the tournament.

For Canada, those numbers were 48 and 39 percent. But their offensive shooting was much better before the Final where a combination of American defense and Canadian nerves saw the home team miss 37 of 54 shots (31 percent).

Up by 12 early, the Americans doubled that to 24 by halftime. With Mike Paye scoring 12 of 16 USA points in the third quarter while holding Canada to 8, the margin was 32 with the final 10 minutes to play.

That's when Nik Goncin, who had missed all of his five shots in the first half and 10 of 12 after three quarters, five of his next seven including three three-pointers for 13 of his game-high 17 points. David Eng would add 12.

It was closer to what the USA expected.

"They are one of those teams and you saw in the fourth quarter that they can put up numbers when they want to," said veteran American guard Jermell Pennie.

"Canada is an extremely talented team," added Steve Serio, "a lot of really good young players mixed with veterans that have a lot of Paralympic medals."

But for all the talent and determination, the Canadians had no answers on this day when it came to finding the net or keeping the Americans from it, at least not until the game was already decided.

"We knew it was going to be a tough game," said Canada's Abdi Dini, then acknowledging his understatement. "They scored so many times."

While only five players scored for Canada, nine hit the nets for the USA, four in double figures. Paye led with 14 and added 7 assists. Brian Bell scored 10 of his 12 in the first quarter, setting the tone for the Americans. Josh Turek scored 10 of his 12 in the second quarter. Serio, the top American scorer for the tournament (11.3 points per game) and tied for the overall lead in assists (6.0 per game), added 10 points, 10 rebounds and 9 assists.

After the game, USA coach Ron Lykins said his team's objective was always the gold medal, not just qualifying for Rio, a sentiment echoed by several of his players as well as their Canadian counterparts.

By winning, he reasoned, everything else would be taken care of. Counter to some of his teammates, Canada's Dini was more pragmatic: "Our main goal was to qualify to Rio which we accomplished."

Eng was already looking ahead.

"We have a really young team. Lots of our guys have never been in a Gold Medal Game. It's really great for them to get that experience and to lose a gold medal. It's going to give them energy to dig within themselves to get that extra motivation and get to that extra level to get ready for next year."

FIBA