Debutants Kalesi Tawake and Vilisi Tavui were impressive in their outings for the Fiji Pearls against the PNG Pepes last night.

The two former basketball reps stamped their mark in their respective positions and impressed Captain Alisi Naqiri.

As the Pearls continue their campaign of trying to qualify for the World Cup in Cape Town, Naqiri believes teamwork will get the players through.

“Kalesi Tawake did a very good job today, she closed up all her wing attacks and Vilisi really did a good job up on the shots. We did what we trained for the last three weeks, the overseas-based players blended in well and yes we utilized all our turnovers.”

Naqiri says they just need to push harder against the strong Tongan team which has a big fan base here in the country.

Fiji will play Tonga at 7.30 tonight at the Vodafone Arena in Suva.

In the first match, Papua New Guinea faces Cook Islands at 5:30pm.