Basketball

On the men's side, the countries that qualified for the tournament are Guam, New Caledonia, Papua New Guinea, French Polynesia, Fiji, Samoa, and Tonga.

On the women's side Guam, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, The Cook Islands, Solomon Islands, Samoa, French Polynesia and New Caledonia are set to play.

The Pacific Games serves as a qualifying event for the Asian Cup and in turn for the FIBA World Cup.

The Games are scheduled to begin on November 19.

Jake McKinlay, 20, was killed on Monday morning, the team said on social media.

“It's with heavy hearts and immense sadness; we mourn the passing of a member of the Jets family, Jake McKinlay, who was tragically taken in a car accident this morning,” the post said.

“We have no words that can express the sorrow and loss of this exceptional young man who still had his whole life ahead of him. Our heartfelt condolences go out to Jake's family and friends at this difficult time.”

Utilizing the sport to the fullest of its noble cause, the Samoa National Basketball Federation gathered a slew of standout girls in the community for a two-goal camp in partnership with the International Basketball Federation (FIBA).

Girls age six up to 15 years old participated in the three-day camp that included seminars, discussions, and workshops on women empowerment along with activities and drills teaching fundamental basketball skills as part of Samoa’s “Stop The Violence Against Women and Girls" platform.

Evan Fournier poured in 28 points for the French as the Americans, who have won gold in the past three Games, were beaten for the first time since 2004.

A strong third quarter, where France outscored Gregg Popovich's star-studded team 25-11, proved decisive.

Rudy Gobert was also influential with 14 points and nine rebounds.

It was a disastrous start for Team USA who struggled in their preparation for the tournament, losing warm-up matches to Nigeria and Australia.

They looked to have taken control of the game with an eight-point half-time lead.

Bryant's widow, Vanessa, and Nike both released statements announcing the end of the deal.

"My hope will always be to allow Kobe's fans to get and wear his products," Vanessa Bryant said in her statement. "Kobe's products sell out in seconds. That says everything. I was hoping to forge a lifelong partnership with Nike that reflects my husband's legacy."

SBF Administration Officer Sarah-Lee Liliuokalani Malaesilia shared that the Samoans have been attending the webinars including Mizue Samoa and Tavita Aukuso Ropati with the latter starting to introduce the game to his community.

"One of our coaches, Tavita (Ropati) who's been registering for the webinars since April has gone out to organize individual training with people," shared Malaesilia. "He is one of our promising coaches and we are excited to ramp up our clinics and training once the threat of the virus is cleared."

Three-time Olympic medallist James and nine of the players from the successful 2016 campaign in Rio were included on the list announced by USA Basketball on Monday.

Should the Los Angeles Lakers star make the final 12-man roster, he will join Carmelo Anthony as the second player to represent Team USA at four separate Games.

Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson won gold in Brazil four years ago and have made the cut despite being yet to play a minute in the NBA this season due to respective Achilles and knee injuries.

The team out-rebounded Guam 75-34, and made 40 percent of its shots compared to Guam’s 24 percent.

Guam's ladies made it a game for a while. After falling behind by 10 points after the first quarter, Guam kept pace with Samoa over the next two quarters and stayed within striking range, down 61-43 entering the fourth quarter.

Despite the loss, Guam had most of the highlights with Alana Salas had 17 points to lead all scorers, while Cori-Nicole Paulino scored 12 points, had five rebounds and four steals for Guam.

Today, all of the brightest stars in the Pacific take center stage in a bid to fly their respective flags high in this prestigious quadrennial basketball showpiece.

So here are the top players to watch from eight different teams set to slug it out for the Pacific Games crown:

TAI WESLEY (GUAM)

Tai Wesley is Guam’s most decorated player, having stops in different ranks and leagues in the world.

Technical Delegate Amanda Jenkins says the venue and team preparations are on track.

"It's exciting this is the time first we have qualifying pathways for this event. Any team who underestimates their opponent will be the ones who will not progress."

Jenkins is certain basketball teams from the Oceania region will be putting on their best performances to win a spot in the FIBA Asia Cup Pre-Qualifiers.