The 9.00am game between Aimeliik and Ngarchelong men was a classic game of basketball with good team offence, good defence, shot blocks, quick explosive play and great rebounding.  Ngarchelong had the upper hand in the 1st quarter but that was reversed by Aimleliik in the 2nd.  Aimeliik’s bigs in Jaxon Chan and Sharlone Oiwil came to play and started to dominate inside.   With a 25-24 score in favour of  Ngarchelong at the half it looked like we were in for a great second half and the teams did not disappoint. The dominance of the Aimeliik bigs continued throughout and gave them a comfortable lead going into the last period.  But someone forgot to tell Ngarchelong it was over and they refused to lay down and with just 3 minutes left had tied the score.  It was then a matter of trading baskets and when the final buzzer went it was tied at 55 all.  The extra period was played the same with Aimeliik scoring the winning basket 67-65 with just 2.9 seconds on the clock.   

 

Ngchesar and Peleliu women met at 11.00am and for the 1st quarter is was a close tussle but from there on the extra experience of the Peleliu team led to an easy victory at 69-41.  For Pelelu, Sweety Kalbesang was the game high scorer with 21 and was capably supported on the score sheet by Esichang Ubedei.  Obviouly their national team experiences helped a lot.  For Ngchesar Cora Echang and Omung Termeteet were the main scorers with 11 and 10 respectively.

 

At  1.00pm Ngchesar and Melelkeok met in a tight game for the first half with Christopher Techur proving the difference in the scoring department for Melekeok.  Melekeok put on the after burners in the second half to draw away comfortable winners, 76-63.  For Ngchesar, Mekeruul Ueki and Marlon August both scored 11.

 

Ngaremlengui women were always going to be too strong for Sonsorol what with present and past national representatives in their team.  A good lead of 9 points at the half, pushed Ngaremlengui onto a massive 3rd quarter, outscoring their opponents 22-2.  While the winning score line of 63-17 indicated a real blowout, the Sonsorol women to their credit did not stop trying at any time. 

 

The final game of the day at 5.00pm was between Sonsorol and Koror men.  It was a tight encounter throughout, although Koror always seemed to have an answer for every extra effort that Sonosrol made to close the gap.  Sonsoroil won the 1st and 3rd quarters but the winning score in the 3rd quarter by Koror was enough to give them a big enough lead to win by 8 points, 86-78.  It was an entertaining game throughout that had the fans yelling and screaming.

 

Today’s games:

 

11.00am               Men                      Ngchesar             vs            Peleliu

 

3.00pm                 Men                      Melekeok           vs            Sonsorol

 

5.00pm                 Women               Koror                     vs            Sonsorol

 

7.00pm                 Men                      Aimeliik               vs            Ngaremlengui