Tamaraws miss finals
The National, Wednesday 03rd April 2013
THE Papua New Guinea Men’s Basketball League champions Moni Plus Tamaraws were unsuccessful in their bid to wrestle the Fiji Easter National Basketball Championship.
Tamaraws lost to defending champions Saints 59-30, beat Outcydaz 45-25 and Titans 46-33 but lost to Macpacers in their final pool.
But the two wins were not enough to secure a place in the quarter-finals.
The PNG team comprising of former internationals Bernard Elavo, Robert Kave and Harold Elavo with Joe Elavo, Wally Parapa and Richard Arava tried their best.
But Saints and Macpacers denied them with strong performances.
It took big efforts from lanky Joe (Elavo), Kave, Parapa and Arava who stepped up when the boys were down in the running time contest.
But their younger players of the Elavo connection – Gabriel, Dodong and Emmanuel Parapa – gained a lot of experience playing against some of the big names in Fiji basketball in their debut outside of PNG.
This is an excellent exposure for them to prepare for the 2015 Pacific Games in the country.
It was back-to-back honours for the unbeaten Saints lead by Fiji internationals, the Whippy brothers – captain Leonard, Marcus, Wayman – with Jesse and Tui Sikivou to beat Vikings in the final to collect the F$1,000 (K1,200) prize.
The Easter tournament in Fiji is regarded as the national championships, with teams outside Suva trying to topple the pride of the capital city.