Hosts notch first win, Australia and New Zealand continue to impress

SUVA (FIBA U18 Oceania Championship 2016) - New Zealand opened their campaign with a huge offensive performance, scoring no less than 26 points in a single quarter. After the nail-biting loss to New Caledonia last night, the spirited Samoan squad couldn’t keep pace with a talented New Zealand outfit. Robert Sio led Samoa with 14 points and 6 rebounds, where Sam Waardenburg put up 22 points in his first game for the event. 

Tahiti v Fiji was a fast paced, up and down game. Both teams pushing the ball at every opportunity. Tahiti seemed to bounce back after their day 1 loss to Australia but the hosts proved to be too much. Fiji’s Colin Lal had a breakout game with 21 points, 6 rebounds and 6 steals. Tahiti’s captain, Manate, did what he could, tallying 15 points, 6 rebounds and 6 steals.

After their win over host nation, Fiji, the Guam Men’s side was full of confidence. They challenged Australia on every rebound, loose ball and 50/50 play but were simply too undersized. The Australian experience and size overshadowed the great effort by Guam. Even with a heavy loss, Guam showed off their exciting style of play with some deadly handles making the Australian defence think twice at times. Australia spread the minutes and had a balanced scoring attack with 6 players in double figures, including 16 points by Jacob Rigoni.

Tuesday’s results
New Zealand beat Samoa 122-35
New Zealand beat New Caledonia 65-49
Australia beat Guam 117-41

Wednesday’s games

New Caledonia v New Zealand

Guam v Tahiti

Fiji v Australia

Check out Tuesday’s games below: 

Samoa v New Zealand

Tahiti v Fiji

Guam v Australia

FIBA