Guam hold off a strong finishing PNG

PORT MORESBY (Papua New Guinea) – Guam have defeated Papua New Guinea in an epic Port Moresby encounter to keep their medal contentions alive.

In the final match of the day, host Papua New Guinea (PNG) gave the crowd something to cheer about when they staged a fourth quarter come-back.

PNG Captain Adam Miakai alongside Allan Millard both played inspired basketball, but it wasn’t enough with the men from Guam digging deep in the final stages to hold on to victory, 103-94.

Keanu Anderson, Raven Pascual, and Captain Noah Tenorio from Guam fought hard to keep their FIBA U17 Oceania Championship medal aspirations in sight.

“Props to PNG, they are a very scrappy team who never give up, and those last two minutes were hard, it was all about who made the less mistakes,” Tenorio said.  “I’m glad that as a team we fought and pulled through.”

“Moving the ball, being unselfish and setting up our teammates was a big focus coming into this game, as well as making shots and communicating.”

Earlier in the day, New Zealand held out a gallant Samoa to win, 102-83.

For Samoa, Captain Semika Nee Elika Tutagalevao and Eneasi Piuleini were all solid performers as they have been throughout the tournament.

Ryan Hunt was impressive off the bench for the Junior Tall Blacks with Mahnaya Heke and Tamatoa Isaac both ranking within the top performers.

“We had just focused on playing as a team, we put in a good defensive effort,” Isaac said.  “We focused on defence a lot, pack it in and box out hard, finish our transition lay-ups, so just based on good defence.”

“As a team, we haven’t been together for a long time, so we need to continue to develop that relationship as we approach finals.”

New Zealand take on Guam while host nation, Papua New Guinea face Australia in the final day of the group phase.

About the 2023 FIBA U17 Oceania Championship

The 2023 FIBA U17 Oceania Championship will be hosted by the Basketball Federation of Papua New Guinea in Port Moresby at Sir John Guise Stadium from October 2 to 6.  The Championships serve as the first step in the qualification process to the 2025 FIBA U19 World Cup.  The top two placed teams at the 2023 FIBA U17 Oceania Championships qualify to the 2024 FIBA U18 Asian Championships.