MANGILAO (Guam) – Palau and Northern Marianas Islands started day two of the FIBA Micronesian Cup 2022 Men’s Competition in style, with a match that had the crowd on the edge of their seats.  While Palau led all the game, and went on to win 72-57, Northern Marianas Islands (NMI) did not go quietly.

NMI Captain, Coby Santos scored a double-double with 27 points and 12 rebounds which seen saw a deficit of five points half-way through the third quarter.  However, Palau was too athletic and deadly on turnovers, scoring 25 points off turnovers for the match.

Jerry Ngiraremiang from Palau came away with 12 points shooting at over 50 per cent.  “Today as a team, we focused on less turnovers.  As the point guard, I must be vocal and use the ball efficiently.  Tomorrow against Guam we will try to push the ball up the court quickly, they are a big team so we will try to move the ball quickly.”

Palau is now two from two at the tournament and will face Guam tomorrow in what is shaping up to be a David VS Goliath battle.  Guam was the better team up against Micronesia (FSM) in their second game of the tournament winning 147-37.

Micronesia was held to just one point in the first quarter with Jimmy Palik stepping up to score 10 points for the game.  Guam Power Forward, Matthew Fegurgur, flexed his dominance with 16 points, 7 rebound, shooting at 80 per cent from the field.

“We are preparing for the future at Pacific Games and Asia Cup, so we have to keep everything tight and fix up mistakes,” Fegurgur said.  “We might be winning by a lot, but we still need to fix our mistakes to keep getting better.  It’s been a while since we have had a live competition and that sometimes brings out habits that you didn’t know you had.  This is an opportunity to see what we need to practise to get better.

“We have such fun on and off the court, a lot of us went to high school together, so we are really tight.  With our vets (veterans) stepping down it’s time for us to step up, and we are all ready and excited for that.”

It’s a heap of fun and I’m excited for the future.

 The stage is set for day three the of the FIBA Micronesian Cup 2022; with FSM VS NMI tipping off from 12:15pm (GMT +10) followed by Guam vs Palau at 7pm (GMT+10) 

All games will be streamed on the FIBA YouTube Channel - Men's Competition and Women's Competition. For the full event schedule click here. 

The FIBA Micronesian Cup 2022 features national teams from across Micronesia, with 16 games to be played across four days from June 8 to 11 in Mangilao, Guam.  The top team will qualify for the 2023 Pacific Games.