# 2017 FIBA Melanesia Basketball Cup

The 2017 FIBA Melanesian Basketball Cup was an international basketball tournament contested by national teams of the newly formed Melanesia sub-zone of FIBA Oceania. The inaugural edition of the tournament were hosted by Papua New Guinea from 27 to 30 September 2017. Matches were played at the Taurama Aquatic and Indoor Centre. It was officially launched on 19 May 2017.
The tournament served as qualifiers for the basketball event of the 2019 Pacific Games in Samoa with three berths for Melanesia allocated for the top three teams.
The hosts Papua New Guinea dominated the entire tournament winning all of their games, including the championship game against New Caledonia to win the maiden championship. Both finalists and third placer Fiji qualified and represented the Melanesia Region for the basketball tournament of the 2019 Pacific Games.

## Teams

The following national teams participated according to FIBA.
* Fiji
* New Caledonia
* Papua New Guinea (Hosts)
* Solomon Islands
* Vanuatu (withdrew)

## Preliminary round

Papua New Guinea dominated the preliminary round with an unbeaten record.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Papua New Guinea | 3 | 3 | 0 | 249 | 166 | +83 | 6 | Final |
| 2 | New Caledonia | 3 | 2 | 1 | 240 | 209 | +31 | 5 | Final |
| 3 | Fiji | 3 | 1 | 2 | 189 | 207 | −18 | 4 | Third place game |
| 4 | Solomon Islands | 3 | 0 | 3 | 140 | 236 | −96 | 3 | Third place game |
* 27 September 2017 17:00
* boxscore
| Fiji | 70–73 | New Caledonia |
| Scoring by quarter: 23–18, 21–22, 10–11, 16–22 |||
| Pts: Whippy 27 Rebs: Whippy 17 Asts: Whippy 2 | | Pts: Sillant 18 Rebs: Sillant 6 Asts: Delaunay-Belleville 1 |
* Taurama Aquatic and Indoor Centre, Port Moresby
* 27 September 2017 19:00
* boxscore
| Papua New Guinea | 79–37 | Solomon Islands |
| Scoring by quarter: 14–12, 22–5, 23–13, 20–7 |||
| Pts: Kala 15 Rebs: Wright 8 Asts: Wright 6 | | Pts: Gwali 9 Rebs: Masaea 8 Asts: Basia, Masaea 2 |
* Taurama Aquatic and Indoor Centre, Port Moresby
* 28 September 2017 17:00
* boxscore
| Solomon Islands | 51–70 | Fiji |
| Scoring by quarter: 17–19, 10–26, 17–6, 10–17 |||
| Pts: Gwali 9 Rebs: Masaea 8 Asts: Masaea 2 | | Pts: Whippy 27 Rebs: Whippy 17 Asts: Whippy 2 |
* Taurama Aquatic and Indoor Centre, Port Moresby
* 28 September 2017 19:00
* boxscore
| New Caledonia | 80–87 | Papua New Guinea |
| Scoring by quarter: 18–18, 19–20, 14–25, 29–24 |||
| Pts: Chevrin 17 Rebs: Weber 5 Asts: Weber 1 | | Pts: Farmer 20 Rebs: Apiko 10 Asts: A. Muri 3 |
* Taurama Aquatic and Indoor Centre, Port Moresby
* 29 September 2017 17:00
* boxscore
| Solomon Islands | 52–87 | New Caledonia |
| Scoring by quarter: 8–36, 15–19, 21–12, 8–20 |||
| Pts: Masaea 11 Rebs: Masaea Asts: Masaea | | Pts: Sillant 23 Rebs: Chevrin Asts: Chevrin |
* Taurama Aquatic and Indoor Centre, Port Moresby
* 29 September 2017 19:00
* boxscore
| Papua New Guinea | 83–49 | Fiji |
| Scoring by quarter: 14–11, 23–13, 26–13, 20–12 |||
| Pts: Wright 15 Rebs: Banduru Asts: Banduru | | Pts: Whippy 16 Rebs: Whippy Asts: Whippy |
* Taurama Aquatic and Indoor Centre, Port Moresby

## Final round
### Bronze medal match

* 30 September 2017 15:00
* boxscore
| Fiji | 63–43 | Solomon Islands |
| Scoring by quarter: 17–12, 17–10, 14–11, 15–10 |||
* Taurama Aquatic and Indoor Centre, Port Moresby

### Gold medal match

* 30 September 2017 19:00
* boxscore
| Papua New Guinea | 81–63 | New Caledonia |
| Scoring by quarter: 17–18, 21–9, 26–19, 17–17 |||
* Taurama Aquatic and Indoor Centre, Port Moresby

## Final standings

The top three teams qualified for the 2019 Pacific Games.
* Legend
* Qualified for the 2019 Pacific Games
| Rank | Team | Record |
| | Papua New Guinea | 4–0 |
| | New Caledonia | 2–2 |
| | Fiji | 2–2 |
| 4 | Solomon Islands | 0–4 |

## Awards

* 2017 FIBA Melanesian champions
* Papua New Guinea 1st title
* All-Star Team:
** Joan Delaunay-Belleville
** Apia Muri
** Marques Whippy
** Matineng-Iakah Leahy
** Alex Chester