POSTED BY: Eurobasket Center
Palau was close to defeat the all-mighty Guam squad in the Micronesian Basketball Tournament in the Northern Marianas Island but the palauans came back home with only the silver medal. This is a promising result anyway for the future FIBA Oceania tournaments.
Semifinals:
Palau - Marshall Islands: 77-72
Palau was leading the game 64-50 after three quarters but a 13-22 run from the marshalleses in the final one made the coaches sweat in the in final moments. Yutaka Gibbons scored a team-high 24pts 7/17FG 9rbs and Sunshine Soalablai added 13pts 3/15FG 9rbs.
Gold medal game:
Palau - Guam: 72-77
Even with an experimental squad, Guam was the big favourtie of this tournament but this final game was closer than expected and Palau was not that far from the Gold medal. Yutaka Gibbons was the game's leading scorer with 22pts 7/19FG, Sunshine Soalablai added 19pts 6/18FG and Wallace Rikrik posted 13pts 5/11FG.
Recap:
Yutaka Gibbons Junior really stepped up in this tournament and was the go-to-guy of this promising squad. He's got a very reliable shot, a very rare quality in this tournament, he can drive to the basket and can score in many ways. He just need to work on an erratic passing game. Sunshine Soalablai and Wallace Rikrik were a good help for him, they both scored some important points. Soalablai is more a free player in Palau system while Rikrik is a great team-player. Michael Williams was the starting PG and the team's floor general, he just need to improve his shooting skills. In the paint, Reid Rikrik grabbed tons of rebounds but he also missed tons of shots and tips. He must stay in shape to improve. There was some good players on the bench too but none of them was playing as the same level as the starters, we can notice the good tournament made by Nik Techemang.
Stats:
Yutaka Gibbons 17.3pts 43.6%FG 6.5rbs 0.0ast 24min 6gp
Sunshine Soalablai 11.8pts 25.0%FG 8.8rbs 1.2ast 30min 6gp
Wallace Rikrik 10.0pts 46.2%FG 6.6rbs 0.8ast 25min 6gp
Michael Williams 10.0pts 28.6%FG 5.3rbs 4.3ast 27min 6gp
Reid Rikrik 9.5pts 31.8%FG 9.3rbs 1.5ast 30min 6gp
Nik Techemang 3.3pts 30.0%FG 5.3rbs 0.0ast 12min 6gp
Lyndon Ngiramolau 3.0pts 28.6%FG 3.5rbs 0.2ast 17min 6gp
Scout Matsutaro 2.5pts 18.2%FG 3.5rbs 1.5ast 14min 6gp
Makanani Ichiro 2.3pts 23.1%FG 2.0rbs 0.0ast 7min 6gp
Brian Smau 1.3pts 66.7%FG 1.5rbs 0.0ast 7min 6gp
Sky Koshiba 1.0pts 28.6%FG 0.8rbs 0.0ast 7min 6gp
Jeffrey tkel 0.0pts 0.0%FG 0.0rbs 0.0ast 1min 3gp
Final Standings:
1- Guam
2- Palau
3- Marshall Isl
4- Kosrae
5- CNMI
6- Chuuk
7- Pohnpei8- Yap
