{"id":181503,"date":"2025-10-01T02:46:09","date_gmt":"2025-10-01T02:46:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/181503\/"},"modified":"2025-10-01T02:46:09","modified_gmt":"2025-10-01T02:46:09","slug":"apia-muri-to-anchor-pngs-charge-fiba-basketball","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/181503\/","title":{"rendered":"Apia Muri To Anchor PNG’s Charge\u00a0|\u00a0FIBA Basketball"},"content":{"rendered":"

PORT MORESBY (Papua New Guinea) \u2013 The Papua New Guinea men\u2019s basketball team enters the 2025 FIBA Melanesian Cup<\/a> with a proud legacy and a familiar leader at the helm. Apia Muri, who has represented PNG since the tournament\u2019s inception in 2017, remains a central figure, both on the stat sheet and in the locker room.<\/p>\n

Papua New Guinea (PNG) won the inaugural FIBA Melanesian Cup undefeated, and in 2022, they reached the final again, finishing with a 2\u20132 record and a silver medal. Across both editions, PNG has built a strong 6\u20132 win-loss record, consistently proving themselves as one of the region\u2019s top contenders.<\/p>\n

Muri\u2019s contributions have been pivotal.<\/p>\n

In the 2022 edition, he averaged 14.3 points, 8.8 rebounds, and 1.8 assists per game, leading PNG in rebounding and ranking second in scoring. His 19-point performance against New Caledonia helped secure a crucial group phase win, and his consistency across all games reflected his experience and leadership.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Apia Muri (centre) Earned All-Star 5 Honours at the FIBA Melanesian Cup 2022<\/p>\n

Approaching a decade of representing PNG, Muri is renowned for stepping up on the big stage averaging 21.6 points at the 2023 Pacific Games, he and Team PNG will be once again striving for Pacific Games qualification.<\/p>\n

Pacific Games 2023 | All Star 5<\/p>\n

\"\"Two Fijians Named in All Star Five<\/p>\n

This year, Muri is confident in the team\u2019s depth and chemistry. \u201cOur PNG men’s team is strong this year because we have mixes of players, new faces and the regular faces.\u201d<\/p>\n

He\u2019s especially excited to see the whole squad step up.<\/p>\n

\u201cWant to see everyone perform for PNG Men’s team,\u201d Muri said. That includes rising talent Allan Millard, who has come through the development pathway and represented PNG at the FIBA U17 Oceania Cup in 2022. \u201cHe\u2019s just young, coming from the development and played some big games, I\u2019m confident he is ready to play and deliver.\u201d<\/p>\n

Muri\u2019s leadership extends beyond stats. He\u2019s a mentor, motivator, and a connector, especially when playing alongside family. \u201cHaving family within the team and being around them, plus the rest of the boys, it’s a bonus. The connection and the combination playing with siblings is unreal.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201c<\/p>\n

We love representing PNG once again in the upcoming FIBA Melanesian Cup – Apia Muri<\/p>\n

With a competitive mindset, Muri knows the stakes. \u201cWe can’t underestimate the teams that will take part, every game is a must-win for us.\u201d As PNG prepares to chase another title, Muri\u2019s presence will be the heartbeat of a team that blends legacy with ambition, and his journey continues to inspire the next generation of PNG basketball.<\/p>\n

The FIBA Melanesian Cup<\/a> will be hosted by the Solomon Islands Basketball Federations in Honiara from October 13 to 18. The event will be supported by the National Sports Council<\/a>, with the two teams qualifying for the Pacific Games 2027 in Tahiti. All games will be livestreamed via the FIBA YouTube Channel<\/a> courtesy of TTV Solomons Islands<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PORT MORESBY (Papua New Guinea) \u2013 The Papua New Guinea men\u2019s basketball team enters the 2025 FIBA Melanesian…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":181504,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[574],"tags":[64,63,726,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-181503","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-basketball","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-basketball","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/181503","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=181503"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/181503\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/181504"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=181503"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=181503"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=181503"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}