Canadian Olympic basketball star Eli Pasquale dies at 59

TORONTO (AP) - Canadian Olympic basketball star Eli Pasquale has died at 59.

Canada Basketball says in a statement he died Monday of cancer.

Pasquale led Canada to a fourth-place finish at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics and sixth place at the 1988 Seoul Olympics. He played in four world championships and two Pan American Games. He was inducted into the Canadian Basketball Hall of Fame in 2003.

Pasquale was drafted in 1984 by the Seattle SuperSonics but didn't make the team. He played professionally in Argentina, West Germany and Switzerland.

Former Canada coach and player Jay Triano shared the same backcourt with Pasquale and traveled the world with him. He called it a "sad day for basketball in our country."

Pasquale, a native of Sudbury, Ontario, is survived by wife Karen, sons Isiah and Manny, brother Vito, sister Luciana and mother Adriana.