Pohnpei 88 Kiribati 87<\/p>\n
Majuro\u2013\u2013 The first game of morning five was an exhilarating one at Outrigger\u2019s Micronesian Basketball Tournament 2000. Kiribati and Pohnpei played a fast-pace, up-tempo game that wowed the few spectators that were present at 10 am. Defense was not a concern as Pohnpei and Kiribati raced down the floor time and time again. Taking it strong to the basket at the end of the half gave Kiribati a 45-41 edge over Pohnpei. The intensity only increased in the second half with four lead changes down the stretch. Both teams were poised for victory at 3:00, but Pohnpei snuck ahead 81-80. Tensions mounted with 25 seconds left in the game with both clubs tied at 87. Kiribati committed a key foul with six seconds left and Mitchell Neth of Pohnpei hit 1 of 2 free throws to take a one-point lead. Time ran out before Pohnpei could attempt a last second shot.<\/p>\n
Kiribati Men out rebounded Pohnpei 54-36. Accurate shooting, however, was the deciding factor. Pohnpei won a slim marginal, shooting battle, making 54 percent of its shots compared to Kiribati\u2019s 51.<\/p>\n
David Collins of Kiribati led all scorers with 27 points. Mitchell Neth of Pohnpei was a scorching 11 of 12 from the field and finished with 25 points. Other key contributors for Pohnpei were Cassidy Shoniber (21 points) and Richard Adams (16 points, 10 rebounds, and 5 assists).
\n(Eric Graham, Majuro)<\/p>\n
Guam 114 Yap 17<\/p>\n
In the second women\u2019s game, Guam rolled to a decisive 114-17 victory over yap. From the start, all pistons were firing for the Guam machine. An unyielding full-court pressure enabled Guam to take an early lead by holding Yap scoreless for the first five minutes of regulation. The blowout \u201cwas on\u201d as Guam took an insurmountable 61-6 halftime advantage. To Yap\u2019s credit, they came out and hit some early second half baskets. Showing a resilient heart, Yap never quit until the final buzzer sounded.<\/p>\n
Guam\u2019s defensive pressure forced Pohnpei into missed shots and numerous turnovers. Total steals went to Guam by a romping difference of 34-6. Not only was the defensive superb, Guam\u2019s offense shot an impressive 66 percent from the floor. Guam dominated all other notable statistical categories.<\/p>\n
Iona Evangelista and Helena Fernandez led Guam\u2019s precision attack with 22 points apiece. Selina Tereas of Guam nearly missed a triple double with 19 points, 12 rebounds, and 9 assists. Fernandez also contributed 8 assists and 9 steals for Guam\u2019s winning effort. Yap\u2019s game leaders were Sarah Mugyan (11 rebounds) and Mary Leemut (8 points).<\/p>\n
Pohnpei Men (2-1)* will play Guam (3-0) in the medal round on Saturday, August 5th. Kiribati Men (0-2) will play Kosrae (0-2) tomorrow, August 4th. Guam Women (4-0) will play Palau (3-0) tomorrow. Yap Women (0-4) will play RMI (2-1) tomorrow.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Pohnpei 88 Kiribati 87<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-52946","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52946","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52946"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52946\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52946"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52946"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52946"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}