2018 FIBA Polynesia Basketball Cup
# 2018 FIBA Polynesia Basketball Cup

The 2018 FIBA Polynesian Basketball Cup was an international basketball tournament contested by national teams of the newly formed Polynesia sub-zone of FIBA Oceania. The inaugural edition of the tournament was hosted by Samoa from 19 to 24 November 2018. Matches were played at the NUS Gymnasium.

The tournament serves as qualifiers for the basketball events of the 2019 Pacific Games in Samoa with three berths for Polynesia allocated for the top three teams, excluding Samoa, in this tournament.

Tahiti swept its way throughout the tournament, sweeping the preliminaries and won their first-ever Polynesian Cup championship over the hosts Samoa in the Final, 77-73. The finalists, along with Tonga, who edged American Samoa in the Bronze Medal Match, 79-77, will represent Polynesia in the men's basketball tournament of the 2019 Pacific Games, which will be also held in Samoa.

## Teams

* American Samoa
* Cook Islands
* Samoa (Hosts)
* Tahiti
* Tonga

## Preliminary round

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | Qualification |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Tahiti | 4 | 4 | 0 | 374 | 259 | +115 | 8 | Final |
| 2 | Samoa (H) | 4 | 3 | 1 | 404 | 310 | +94 | 7 | Final |
| 3 | American Samoa | 4 | 2 | 2 | 266 | 359 | −93 | 6 | Third place game |
| 4 | Tonga | 4 | 1 | 3 | 357 | 391 | −34 | 5 | Third place game |
| 5 | Cook Islands | 4 | 0 | 4 | 266 | 348 | −82 | 4 | |

* 19 November 2018 13:00
* Boxscore

| American Samoa | 72–67 | Cook Islands |
| - | - | - |
| Scoring by quarter: 22–15, 11–18, 24–22, 15–12 |||
| Pts: Lyn. Siu 23 Rebs: Tovale 8 Asts: Lyn. Siu 4 | | Pts: Akania 20 Rebs: Heath 13 Asts: George 2 |

* NUS Gymnasium, Apia
* 19 November 2018 17:00
* Boxscore

| Samoa | 76–77 | Tahiti |
| - | - | - |
| Scoring by quarter: 29–12, 11–20, 16–13, 20–32 |||
| Pts: Vaili 15 Rebs: McFarland 13 Asts: E. Tufuga, S. Tufuga 5 | | Pts: Meuel 31 Rebs: Teriitemataua 9 Asts: Teriitemataua 9 |

* NUS Gymnasium, Apia
* 20 November 2018 15:00
* Boxscore

| Tonga | 70–71 | American Samoa |
| - | - | - |
| Scoring by quarter: 12–19, 11–20, 28–12, 19–20 |||
| Pts: Paea 23 Rebs: Bain-Vete 14 Asts: Alipate 5 | | Pts: Tovale 23 Rebs: Lyl. Siu 12 Asts: Lyn. Siu, Lyl. Siu 3 |

* NUS Gymnasium, Apia
* 20 November 2018 19:00
* Boxscore

| Cook Islands | 70–97 | Samoa |
| - | - | - |
| Scoring by quarter: 22–29, 14–24, 15–15, 19–29 |||
| Pts: Heath 24 Rebs: Heath 9 Asts: Heath 6 | | Pts: S. Tufuga 32 Rebs: E. Tufuga 8 Asts: E. Tufuga, S. Tufuga 4 |

* NUS Gymnasium, Apia
* 21 November 2018 17:00
* Boxscore

| Tahiti | 102–80 | Tonga |
| - | - | - |
| Scoring by quarter: 27–17, 31–18, 20–19, 24–26 |||
| Pts: Meuel 40 Rebs: Meuel 10 Asts: Meuel, Teriitemataua 5 | | Pts: Paea 30 Rebs: Bain-Vete 14 Asts: Alipate 5 |

* NUS Gymnasium, Apia
* 21 November 2018 19:00
* Boxscore

| American Samoa | 63–99 | Samoa |
| - | - | - |
| Scoring by quarter: 13–31, 20–27, 15–20, 15–21 |||
| Pts: Tuimaseve 22 Rebs: Lyl. Siu 18 Asts: Lyn. Siu, Pa'Aga 2 | | Pts: Paia 22 Rebs: Paia 11 Asts: S. Tufuga 5 |

* NUS Gymnasium, Apia
* 22 November 2018 13:00
* Boxscore

| Cook Islands | 43–72 | Tahiti |
| - | - | - |
| Scoring by quarter: 11–28, 19–8, 9–20, 4–16 |||
| Pts: Heath 14 Rebs: Heath 14 Asts: 4 players 2 | | Pts: Meuel 36 Rebs: Sommers 10 Asts: Sommers 6 |

* NUS Gymnasium, Apia
* 22 November 2018 19:00
* Boxscore

| Samoa | 132–100 | Tonga |
| - | - | - |
| Scoring by quarter: 31–21, 27–27, 34–20, 40–32 |||
| Pts: McFarland 30 Rebs: McFarland 14 Asts: McFarland, E. Tufuga 6 | | Pts: Alipate 48 Rebs: Bain-Vete 11 Asts: Alipate 4 |

* NUS Gymnasium, Apia
* 23 November 2018 15:00
* Boxscore

| Tonga | 107–86 | Cook Islands |
| - | - | - |
| Scoring by quarter: 24–30, 33–14, 31–18, 19–24 |||
| Pts: Alipate 55 Rebs: Bain-Vete 14 Asts: Paea 7 | | Pts: Akania 27 Rebs: Akania 11 Asts: Heath 5 |

* NUS Gymnasium, Apia
* 23 November 2018 17:00
* Boxscore

| Tahiti | 123–60 | American Samoa |
| - | - | - |
| Scoring by quarter: 28–21, 27–10, 28–19, 40–10 |||
| Pts: Meuel 25 Rebs: Audouin 8 Asts: Audouin, Teriitemataua 4 | | Pts: Lyn. Siu 22 Rebs: Lyn. Siu 10 Asts: Nimoa'I 3 |

* NUS Gymnasium, Apia

## Final round

### Third place game

* 24 November 2018 15:00
* Boxscore

| American Samoa | 77–79 | Tonga |
| - | - | - |
| Scoring by quarter: 13–20, 23–13, 16–23, 25–23 |||
| Pts: Lyn. Siu 21 Rebs: Lyn. Siu 14 Asts: Lyl. Siu 2 | | Pts: Alipate 46 Rebs: Bain-Vete 13 Asts: Alipate, Bain-Vete, Paea 3 |

* NUS Gymnasium, Apia

### Final

* 24 November 2018 19:00
* Boxscore

| Tahiti | 77–73 | Samoa |
| - | - | - |
| Scoring by quarter: 14–20, 17–15, 27–11, 19–27 |||
| Pts: Meuel 23 Rebs: Sommers 9 Asts: Meuel 3 | | Pts: S. Tufuga 22 Rebs: McFarland 15 Asts: McFarland 4 |

* NUS Gymnasium, Apia

## Final standings

* Legend
* Qualified for the 2019 Pacific Games.
* Qualified for the 2019 Pacific Games as the hosts.

| Rank | Team | Record |
| - | - | - |
| | Tahiti | 5–0 |
| | Samoa | 3–2 |
| | Tonga | 2–3 |
| 4 | American Samoa | 2–3 |
| 5 | Cook Islands | 0–4 |

## Awards

* 2018 FIBA Polynesian champions
* Tahiti 1st title
* Most Valuable Player: Ariirimarau Meuel
* All-Star Team:
   * PG – Marcus Alipate
   * SG – Sapeti Tufuga
   * SF – Ariirimarau Meuel
   * PF – Theodore McFarland
   * C – Reihiti Sommers
