Hosts NBA (Nagpada Basketball Association) survived plenty of hiccups before they pipped Indian Gymkhana 62-60 to enter the men’s final of the NBA-16th Invitational State Level basketball tournament, at NNH’s floodlit courts last night. It was a fast-paced encounter with both the teams tried to outpace and outsmart each other. While NBA trailed for the better part of the first two quarters, but only by a point or two at the most.
NBA on the attack as Indian Gymkhana players try to block during their match at the NBA-16th Invitational State Level basketball tournament.
After the change of ends, for the first time NBA forged ahead by a point at 45-44, Thereafter it was just a touch and go with hosts managing to keep ahead (58-57). At this stage a long shot (three-pointer) from Iqbal Khan took NBA to 61. In a desperate last ditch attempt, Indian Gymkhana first tightened their defence and blocked NBA forwards from shooting under the basket, and then in a surprise raid, Rushabh Kalbhor scored to make it 62-59. But their attempt in the dying moments for a three-pointer shot just hit the ring and fell out, and that sealed Indian Gymkhana’s fate.
However, Mastan YMCA stopped NBA’s under-16 team’s winning spree, by beating them 61-50 to clinch the under-16 title. But NBA still had a fruitful day as they bagged the under-13 final with a 67-39 win over Mastan YMCA boys.
Results :
Men (Semifinals): NBA 62 (Fauzeen Shaikh 16, Nearaj Shaikh 15, Imran Siddique 10) bt Indian Gym 60 (Rushabh Kolbhor 20, Nikhil Ayre 16)- HT 26-26.
Boys U-16: (Final): Mastan YMCA 61 (Sk. Raza 28, Ansari Misbah 14)
bt NBA 50 (Fiaz Shaikh 20, Usman Khan 10).
Boys U-13: (final): NBA 67 ( Shaikh Fiaz 28, Ismail Ansari 21) bt Mastan YMCA 39 (Saif Khan 12).