Day 6 - Men's Bronze Medal Game - Fiji 70 defeat Guam 65

There were a lot of nerves, excitement and anticipation as the sirens sounded to start the game.

The game was fairly slow, but Fiji took the early lead into the quarter, with 5 minutes left Fiji were ahead of Guam by 10 points, Guam with no score.

Reed Meyer from Guam managed to push past Fiji’s strong defense and score his team a goal, giving Guam a bit more hope that they could overcome Fiji, it definitely affected the way Guam were playing, giving them more strength and their game play improved.

With 2 minutes to go, Guam started to make a comeback with their defense improving and they started to score a lot more, the gameplay of both teams improved and made the game intense.

The quarter ended with Fiji taking a lead over Guam with the scores Fiji 19 to Guam 9.

The second quarter was fast paced, both teams had extremely quick reflexes and were both really strong in defense. 

As the end of the quarter neared, Guam made a comeback and started scoring as well as keeping their defense string resulting in them catching up to Fiji, with the scores in the last minute 29-30, Guam leading over Fiji.

Throughout the first half of the match, Valiant Borja from Guam scored an incredible 13 points for his team, making a big difference to his team’s score.

The quarter ended with the scores even on 32.

The third quarter began and stayed even all throughout, both teams play was with intensity and the scores stayed within a few points of each other.

Lance Gogue from Guam was involved in a little collision; he cut open below his eye, which resulted in him being taken off the court for medical treatment.

Throughout the third quarter both teams played hard and the quarter finished with the scores; Guam on 52 to Fiji 48.

Fourth and final quarter started intensely, with the pressure and stress starting to get to both of the teams, impacting their shooting accuracy. 

The quarter was played rough with bumping, pushing and tumbling as both teams tried to overcome each other to win the bronze medal. Both Fiji and Guam played really strong and it was one of the most evenly paired matches by far. 

Fiji dominated the last minutes with accurate shooting from the line and solid defense. The match finished with Fiji just winning by 5 points, the final scores of the match; Guam 65 to Fiji 70.

By Amy Sanderson of The Reporters’ Academy