For Solomon Islands Basketball, getting a win in the FIBA Melanesian Cup will mean a lot.

As the hopes of their nation, rests on their shoulders, a win means the side will be able to play in the Pacific Games in front of their home crowd.

Being the first team to arrive into the country, the Solomon Islanders are not here to make up the numbers.

Senior team member Iysha Mauriasi says they mean business.

“It’s been hard but through God, we hope that we might fulfil and execute whatever we’ve learnt throughout the year and do our best so we can make our family proud.”

She says with a relatively young team, they are anticipating a tough encounter.

“We’ve been through a like tough times, through preparation just to get us all ready and like most of us are starting to get to here and it’s a young team.”

The Melanesian Cup will start tomorrow at the Vodafone Arena in Suva.