U17 Oceania Round-up: Australia post dominant win over Guam

Noumea (New Caledonia) - Australia's U17 squad drubbed Guam, 149-45, to begin its 2019 FIBA U17 Oceania Championship campaign in style at the L'Arene de Sud in Noumea, New Caledonia.

The Junior Boomers banked on a scorching 42-12 first-quarter start to rip the game wide open en route to an easy 104-point win.

Eight players hit double-digit marks for the Aussies led by Blake Jones with a 26-point, 11-rebound double-double performance.

Paul Tsapatolis was also instrumental with 21 points on 8-of-11 shooting to go along seven rebounds and two steals while Taran Armstrong and Toluwaleyi Adebayo added 17 apiece.

Australia dominated the boards, 51-23, points off turnovers (42-6), fastbreak points (10-0), second-chance points (24-0) and points inside the paint (122-4).

Elijah Garrido, Dylan Trusso and Elijah Joaquin-Cruz paced Guam with 15, 13 and 11 markers, respectively.

New Zealand beats Samoa, 78-37

New Zealand U17 squad got off to a hot start with a 78-37 rout of Samoa in the opening assignment of the 2019 FIBA U17 Oceania Championships at the L'Arena de Sud in Noumea, New Caledonia.

Sean Murphy checked in 16 points and five rebounds in just 20 minutes of action to spearhead the Junior Tall Black's massive debut win.

Robbie Coman also came through with 14 markers Finn Lally added 10 as NZ even led by as many as 44 points en route to a one-sided triumph.

NZ had a 24-13 lead after the opening frame but it was their 21-8 second quarter domination that spelled the difference in the huge victory.

The Junior Tall Blacks' defense was in full display, limiting the Samoans to a paltry 24-percent shooting.

NZ also forced them to 22 turnovers, translating it to 26 error points.

No player hit double-digit mark for Samoa with Jordan Brunt and Derhyse Matautia settling for just seven markers apiece.

Tahiti beats Papua New  Guinea, 90-58

Tahiti banked on a strong finishing kick to turn back Papua New Guinea, 90-58, in the final game of the day.

Tahiti erupted for 31 points in the telling fourth-quarter run while allowing to PNG to just 16 points to come away with the emphatic 32-point win.

It was a huge closeout for Tahiti which had a hard time shrugging off the gritty PNG side with just a slim 16-15 first-quarter lead.

Tamati Niuati connected with five triples to finish with 20 points, two rebounds and two steals, thus leading the way for the wards of FIBA Polynesia Cup MVP and now U17 mentor Arii Meuel.

Maui Roopina pumped in 17 points while Harevaa Hatitio and Vairupe Puhetini had 13 and 10, respectively.

Tahiti was outrebounded by PNG, 44-59, but made up for it with edges in turnover points, 27-9. Those error points became the x-factor for Tahiti had 12 steals, forcing PNG to 32 turnovers.

Paitien Smare and Sammy Baea racked up 11 markers each in a foiled effort for PNG.

FIBA