Pohnpei men led at every quarter but only just.  The lead continually changed as each team fought to gain an ascendancy.  The referees continued to let the game flow, at times making it seem more like rugby than basketball.  William Hawley of Pohnpei continued his good tournament with a game high 25 points,Troy Yaingelvo, Tomasi Mawi and Cassidy Shoniber all contributed double figures.   For RMI their main contributors were Stanton Iban, Reimers Pinho and Bolear Bokna.  Score: Pohnpei 73, RMI 61.

The very inexperienced Chuuk women’s team again suffered defeat at the hands of CNMI.  While the Chuuk girls are well behind in skill level and playing knowledge, they lack nothing in determination and spirit and never gave up trying.   For Chuuk Yumiko Linny was their high scorer with 10, while a number of CNMI players contributed to their score, led by Jacquelin Wonenberg.

The Kosrae/CNMI had spectators on their feet cheering the physical play and skilful athleticism of both teams.  At times, again more like rugby, neither team gave any respite to the act of throwing their bodies around.  CNMI led at the end of the 1^st and 3^rd quarters but it was the bigger lead in the 2^nd and 4^th by Kosrae that gave them the win.  Tarence Kibby led all scorers with 25 and was supported by team mates Freddy Kibby with 20 and David Taulung with 16.  For CNMI Jack Lizama led the way with 21 points and tournament leading points scorer Jericho Cruz added another 16 to his tally. 

The undermanned RMI team struggle valiantly against the Palau women and in the second half were able to come back against the second string of Palau.  For RMI Rani Hadley added 10 points to her tournament tally to lead all scorers.  She was well assisted by Stacy Lejjena with 14 and Trisha Wase with 12.  For Palau Carrissa Trolii continued her good form to finish with 16 points and Sesengel Ketebengang had 15.

But the best was left to last as Guam men took the court against the hapless Palau team, who had previously lost their 2 games.  After some words of encouragement during the day the Palau team came out determined to not let Guam intimidate them and took the game right at their opponents.  While Guam won the first 2 quarters, Palau came back in the 3^rd to win that session and then tied up with Guam in the final quarter.  For most of the game the score was within 5 points and every time Guam looked like exploding away, the Palau men came back.  In each of their previous games the dominant Guam team won by 30 points but against Palau the Guam coaching staff used frequent substitutions to retain their slender lead.  For Guam their big center DeAndre Walker had a game high 17 points with Michael Atoigue scoring 11.  Palau’s main contributors were Arnold Undecimo with 14 and Raymond Watson with 12.

In today’s games CNMI and Chuuk men meet at 11.00am, Kosrae and RMI men play at 1.00pm, CNMI women meet the might of Guam at 3.00pm and Pohnpei men face up against Guam at 5.00pm.  The final game is a women’s game between the hosts Palau and the inexperienced but fighting Chuuk team.

 

CHECK OUT ALL RESULTS BY CLICKING ON FIXTURES AND RESULTS IN THE LEFT SIDE PANEL