Paita (New Caledonia) - Host New Caledonia Men's outlasted a determined Papua New Guinea side with a heart-stopping 87-84 victory and advance to the Qualifying Round of the FIBA U17 Oceania Championship.

Cheered on by a huge home crowd, New Caledonia banked on Ethaniel Fenuafanote who drilled game-sealing bucket in the last six seconds to ice the deal for the host nation.

Suffering its lone loss against Tahiti, NCL thus wrapped up its group phase campaign with a 2-1 record.

Yannick Fenuafanote finished with 22 points, 13 rebounds, two assists, and two blocks while home town hero Ethaniel keyed in 10 markers.

Yael Tui and Brian Taputu put up 17 and 12 for solid support to Fenuafanote brothers.

PNG, meanwhile, had its Qualifying Round hopes dashed with this painful nail-biter as it slipped to 1-2 in Group B.

Charlie Bradley and Paitien Smare tallied 14 each for PNG which still has a chance to make it to the Final Four when it participates in the qualifying quarterfinals.

Australia beats New Zealand, 86-63

Australia eclipsed rival New Zealand in a battle of unbeaten teams, 86-63, to cap off a preliminary round sweep on Day 3 of the 2019 FIBA U17 Oceania Championship of Group A action.
 
All players scored in a scattered Australian attack led by Joshua Giddey who pumped in 26 points, 5 rebounds, 7 assists, and 3 steals.
 
Tamuri Slim Wigness also came up with 14 points, four rebounds, and four assists.
 
Wigness was the at the forefront of the Crocs' championship run last year in the FIBA U18 Asia Championship where China, New Zealand, and the Philippines finished second, third and fourth place, respectively.

Motivated by two easy wins against Guam and Samoa, Australia jumped past NZ with a 27-13 first-quarter start which proved to be the difference as the Junior Tall Blacks failed to catch up within striking distance the rest of the way.
 
With this, Australia kept its slate unblemished with a 3-0 card to clinch the top spot in Group A and secure the outright Semi-finals ticket, further bolstering its Oceania championship repeat bid.
 
Robbie Coman and Harrison Payne led the Junior Tall Blacks with 15 and n14 markers, respectively.
 
After blowout wins against Samoa and Guam, NZ thus fell to 2-1 in Group A but will still join Australia straight through the Final Four of this Oceania joust among 17-and-under cagers.

Tahiti beats the Cook Islands, 58-34

Tahiti rolled past the Cook Islands, 58-34, to complete an unscathed campaign in Group B of the 2019 FIBA U17 Oceania Championship men's division.
 
All personnel of Men's team captain Arii Meuel delivered and scored in bunches led by Maoake Tahirori with 10 points and 7 rebounds.
 
Herevaa Hatitio and Vairupe Puhetini chipped in 8 each, Maui Ropina with 7 while Nelson Arapa and Tematuanui posted 6 apiece for Tahiti which made the Cook Islands to just six points in the first quarter.
 
With its 17-6 first quarter spree dictating the pace, Tahiti was never threatened the rest of the way en route to its third straight win Group B following also its dominating wins against Papua New Guinea, 90-58, and New Caledonia, 71-43.

Tahiti thus notched a the top spot in Group B for an outright ticket to the semi-finals of this Oceania tilt for 17-and-under aspirants.
 
Lewis Tuaru was the only double-digit scorer for the Cook Islands with 15 points.
 
At 0-3 also due to its losses against New Caledonia, 68-76, and Papua New Guinea 61-72, the Cook Islands was relegated into the Classification Phase of the tournament.

Samoa beats Guam, 93-40

Samoa took down Guam, 93-40, in a clash of winless squads to ice the third-place finish in Group A of the 2019 FIBA U17 Oceania Championship.

The Samoas absorbed massive losses against Group A Semi-finalists Australia and New Zealand but they just would not be denied against Guam in a bid to nail their first win.

And they did took care of business, scoring a 53-point rout of Guam to up its card to 1-2 for a sure third spot finish in Group A.

Egon Keil made sure of Samoa's conquest with 23 points on 10-of-14 shooting to go along 11 rebounds, two steals, and two blocks.

Hinckley Scanlan and Ryan Taei added 14 and 11 markers, respectively.

Guam, on the other hand, reeled to its third straight one-sided loss as Isaiah Malig was the silver lining with 11 points.

Guam finished the Group A stage at fourth place with a 0-3 card after setbacks against Australia, 45-149, and New Zealand, 19-104.

FIBA